Keeping a Promise
by n0pwny
Summary: Twilight Sparkle is once again thrust into the unknown when the past returns to haunt her. However, when the Kingdom of Canterlot falls under attack, can Twilight and her friends stay together long enough to discover the true purpose of the assault? Sequel to "The Long Journey Home".
1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

The unicorn was lavender, with a pair of lovely purple eyes, and a dark indigo mane that had a bright stripe running through it, cut like a schoolfilly's. Magenta light swirled around her body, emanating from her horn in a grand display of magical skill. All in all, it was a good illustration.

"Twilight Sparkle…"

A gloved hand turned the page, skimming over the detailed descriptions. The next entry was that of a dark blue pegasus, with an unruly bright blue and white striped mane and tail. She was wearing a clawed bracer made of black metal on her right foreleg, the blade on the bottom folded back. The bright blue eyes had been meticulously painted, each iris daubed with ink. There was a three-pronged, menacing face with red eyes stamped on the top right corner.

"Blizzard Gale…"

After making a few notes in the lexicon, Grimm turned to the final entry that she needed to see that day. The entry of Princess Celestia, the daytime ruler of the world known as Equestria. For sure, that one had a powerful and energetic soul, to have lived so long. And it was probably rare, too.

Now, how to get at it….

Grimm closed her lexicon with a snap, carefully tucking it into a yellow portal. She stood up, all eight feet of her. For someone who had been serving for over fifteen thousand years, Grimm was not the most patient person. Most operatives of that age either began to become unhinged, or were stopped from going out into the outer realms due to the sheer amount of guilt that might have accumulated, or at least until Nightfall was done with them.

If Grimm had still had a mouth, she would have smiled. She was possibly one of the eldest officers in the Grand Master's active service, and was still as effective as she had been four thousand years ago. She still made the occasional trip into the outer realms, finalizing deals and the such.

The officer glided over to a crystal set in the wall and spoke into it in a lilting tongue that disguised the true nature of the message.

Within moments, a cloaked and hooded figure with absurdly long coat-tails came into the study.

"You wanted to see me?" it asked. "Is it time?"

Grimm stared back at it, savoring the feeling of having the answer to a question.

"Very soon. What's the news from the Court?"

The being in black shrugged. "Not much, to be honest. Just the usual about Razioth's search for a new manager, and not much else. Oh, and Sirmyurin is not making much progress in counseling. At this rate, Nightfall may need to keep him longer than four months."

Privately, the being in black sometimes wondered about Grimm. Her entry in the lexicon was very…vague. It hoped that one day, Grimm herself would tell it a little about herself. But all these thoughts, the hooded one never voiced. It was best to stay on Grimm's good side; stories were whispered about clients who got on her bad side. There weren't a whole lot of them, but the ones that existed were often intensely messy.

"Excellent." Grimm said, running a gloved finger over a nearby bookshelf, caressing the spines of every volume. "I do feel sorry for Nightfall, but it's imperative that every operative is up to standard. Did you manage to acquire what I requested?"

The hooded being reached into an inside pocket and drew out a small, egg sized blue orb.

The officer took it with care, tucking it away in her long sleeve.

"Then we have nothing else to discuss. Have a good day, Graygan. You've done very well."

"Thank you, Grimm."

* * *

Once Grimm was alone, she took out the orb once again. It was the final piece of her latest project, but thanks to Faedran and his team, she would now have a place to test it.

Grimm removed her segmented metal mask, setting it on the table and walking over to the large mirror set in the wall, her knee length black hair billowing down her back and around her high collar, the glowing ball of light set into the front of her dress illuminating her front.

Her reflection had no face, no head, no shoulders, no visible body at all.

But then again, neither did she.

* * *

Author's Notes

If you haven't read "The Long Journey Home", then the rest of this story will probably be a little confusing. Make sure you read that one first, okay?

Otherwise, please leave a review! Ponies in the next chapter, I promise.


	2. 1 Peace at Last

1 Peace at Last

* * *

The old manor was abandoned, the same as it had been for the past six months. Ivy and creepers overran the once-elegant statuary in the courtyard, and the grass was overgrown and untrimmed. It was completely silent, as no birds ever nested near that mansion. As far as anypony was concerned, the old manor at the edge of Ponyville was just another old curiosity, just another anomaly in the already strange land of Equestria.

And only seven of them knew the truth.

One of those seven, Twilight Sparkle, stood in front of that very manor, feeling very similar to how she had been six months before. The unicorn had been on her way home from her friend Fluttershy's cottage when something, she would never know what, had directed her hooves to this very spot. Twilight put the basket of herbs she had been carrying on the floor. The plants had mostly regrown by now, but nothing could cover up those scorch marks around the front door, left there by Mauraxus the dracolich when he had come after them in a last-ditch attempt to kill her and her friends. Twilight shuddered, the sunset casting long shadows throughout the entire courtyard. She had done hours of research, but had come up with no answers on what a dracolich even really _was, _only that it was an undead dragon of some sort.

At least it was over. Twilight looked over to the spot where she remembered trading a magic sword, Soulshatter, for her friend's soul. It had been a sudden, rushed affair that had left Twilight rather puzzled a few days later. Who _had _that hooded being been, and how had it known what was going on in Equestria? And why had a cheesecake appeared to her a few days later?

Twilight had asked Princess Celestia about the manor, about if there were any other alicorns in the world, but the Princess had responded with a very sure reply of 'no' to everything. Even now, the Princess's troubled face haunted the unicorn's dreams. Until that moment, Twilight had been sure that Princess Celestia knew everything, knew what everything was. To be shown that that wasn't true had been…shocking, to say the least.

Twilight stared at the old manor, stared until a chill breeze swept around her exposed legs, reminding her that winter would soon be here. She smiled to herself. This year, Twilight would be able to help Blizzard Gale with wrapping up winter.

Blizzard Gale. She had come a long way from the scared, death-seeking pony that Twilight had found in the manor to the more sociable pegasus that she was now. Currently, Blizzard was back in Cloudsdale, visiting her old family home, something that the Princess had just recently found out the location of.

Twilight picked up her basket and began to walk away from the manor. It was just a dead, empty carcass of what it had been. After the battle, Twilight and her friends had gone back inside, hoping to find answers about the beings who had used it for an entry point into Equestria. However, when they had gone inside, they had found nothing but a burned out interior, with everything from the walls to the stairway completely charred and incinerated. So many of the interior supports had been weakened, it was incredible that the house could still be standing. But even after a thorough investigation, aided by two royal guards, they had discovered nothing but dust and ashes. Either Mauraxus had destroyed it all in his mad dash for revenge, or Faedran's final chess piece had when it brought the third floor down around them.

Either way, it didn't matter. Her only regret was that the same being who had given Blizzard life again had taken the alicorn Sirmyurin with it. The white alicorn had turned on his former colleagues to save his old friend, and even now was undergoing 'counseling', whatever that was. Twilight wished him good luck, praying to Celestia that he would be released soon.

"Spike, I'm home!" she called to her favorite assistant as the unicorn entered the treehouse library.

The baby dragon, having just put away the last of the books from last night's study session, hurried over. There was a pink, glittery envelope clasped in his claws.

"Twilight!" he cried, waving the envelope. "The mailmare, Derpy, just dropped this off, I think it's from Pinkie."

Twilight gave the basket to Spike and opened the letter. It was written on pink paper, and for some reason, there was a copious amount of multicolored confetti inside too.

_Dear Twilight and Spike,_

_You are cordially invited to Pinkie Pie's 'Start of Winter Party'!_

_Time: The start of winter, silly!_

_Food and drinks will be provided, bring your friends!_

_Signed, Pinkie Pie_

Twilight smiled, shutting the door behind her with magic. Nothing serious had happened in Equestria since her big brother's wedding, and honestly, the unicorn was loving it.

"Nothing but peace and quiet." Twilight murmured, thinking of all the fun that she would have once it started snowing. For one thing, she'd have another excuse to stay indoors and read.

"Spike! Can you boil us some water? I think we could both use a cup of hot tea!"

* * *

Graygan sat in his tower, looking down onto the Central Square. It was nighttime, but as usual, the market street was as busy as ever. Beings of all worlds and dispositions hurried back and forth, through and out of yellow portals. Those who couldn't use them yet hurried to the Gate Hub instead. There, they could use the magical transport for a small fee.

The hooded operative walked away from the window, drawing the curtains and putting on his gauntlets. The dark metal gleamed in the light of the doorside lamp, but Graygan did not head for the door. Instead, the hooded creature summoned a yellow gate and stepped into it, ready for another meeting with Grimm.

* * *

When he arrived at the citadel, Graygan knew that something was afoot. The study lights were off, meaning that Grimm was either in the outer realms, or in her lab, working on the project. And since she had schedule a meeting, Graygan took the spiraling stairs downward for the lab, coat-tails dragging on the stone steps.

Grimm was there, all right. For once, the officer was standing in full light, as the lab's walls were lined with crystalline cubes, all neatly arranged on elegant shelves and shedding an abnormally bright light over the room.

Grimm wore a long, dark purple dress that had long, slightly bell-shaped sleeves and a high collar. Her feet were hidden under the dress's hem, but her gloved hands were exposed, one of them casually holding her lexicon, the other a long, thin staff with a bladed tip. Graygan drew his hood a little lower as he approached. The cubes around the lab were blinding after being in the dark, but they were like birthday candles compared to the labyrinth of spells that Grimm had woven about herself. Every thread on her outfit, every stitch, reeked of sorcery and spellwork. The only thing that was not shedding magical force was Grimm's mask, but Graygan knew that if the screening spell was taken off, that piece of metal would glow like a sun.

The hooded operative cast a screening spell on himself to block out the glare and approached. There was always a faint whining sound in the labs, but Graygan knew better than to ask.

"Are we ready to proceed with the next stage?" Graygan asked. He peered at what Grimm had been working on.

The officer turned around completely, towering over Graygan and running a gloved finger through her long black hair. "Not completely. I called you here tonight because I needed to know you opinion of this 'Equestria'.

"Hmm!" Graygan huffed as he conjured up some memories in the air. "Well, it looks rather peaceful, but upon viewing the history of the place, you can see that that isn't true. But _my_ opinion is that this Equestria is really not worth all the hype that has been directed at it."

Grimm took a seat in a large armchair that materialized beneath her. "Hype? Do elaborate."

"Well, as you know, I work in the outer realms emergency dispatch sector most of the time. That's how I was able to pick up on Miss Sparkle's distress so quickly. But recently, the human world has had quite a large number of distress signals." Graygan waved a gauntleted hand and pulled out some papers from the air. "Over the past few years, there's been a spike in humans willing to give up a huge amount of currency or even their souls for a chance to go visit Equestria." The hooded being stowed the papers in its voluminous coat. "At first, the Court dismissed it as a hoax, some Black Jester playing a prank. But upon further investigations, we found out that nearly all of the signals were authentic! I mean, _really!_"

Grimm shifted in her chair and turned her staff over in her gloved hands. "How do these humans even know about this world? I wasn't able to find any ties…"

Graygan shrugged. "I'm as puzzled as you are."

Grimm thought a bit more, then stood up. "I need you to do some research on your last client from that world. I have a plan, but it will only work if she is as close to her mentor as the lexicon claims."

Graygan bowed. "Of course. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. But dracolich souls are not easy to reassemble, so tell Nightfall to hurry with Sirmyurin. I need him back in the outer realms. I will inform you when we need to acquire a new frame."

Graygan bowed again, then walked briskly out of the labs, already opening his lexicon to the 'Twilight Sparkle' entry.

* * *

Author's Notes

Sorry for the lack of ponies, but the chapters will get clearer as we proceed.

Leave a review...please?


	3. 2 A Nighttime Visit

2 A Nighttime Visit

* * *

A very deep thank you to FireflyXZ (Well, the whole humans thing was just a joke about bronies, but you raise an interesting idea), The Random 1 (I have considered Changelings, and they will be getting some mention), Guest (I'm happy you're enjoying this), and No Name (Yep, a cheesecake. As for their organization, I'll reveal the name at a later chapter, if that's ok with you?). Anyhow, thanks for reviewing!

* * *

"Goodbye, Twilight! Come again tomorrow for the Aftermath party!" Pinkie Pie squealed as she waved Twilight and Spike on their way home.

It was a clear and crisp night, with just a little nip in the breeze that betrayed winter's arrival. Twilight's stomach was full of sugary, winter-themed treats from Pinkie's party, and although the festivities would be going on long into the night, the lavender unicorn had elected to leave early, on account of wanting to be able to get up at the same time. Twilight waved Pinkie goodbye, then hefted the now-snoring Spike over he back and started her walk home.

What a fun party that had been. Song, dance, and winter-themed games, enjoyed by everypony present.

Twilight gave a small sigh of satisfaction as she closed her front door before tucking Spike into his bed. "Ahh. I don't know if you can hear me, Spike, but I think we might be in for a great start of winter."

Twilight brushed her teeth, flossed, then blew out the last few candles in her home before collapsing into bed herself. As she drew the sheets over her full and happy body, Twilight Sparkle began to dream of all the things she would do tomorrow.

With a little smile on her lips, the mare fell asleep.

Perhaps she had eaten too much at the party, because Twilight's dreams were not as pleasant as she would have liked.

* * *

_A dark being, hooded and black, stalked the halls of a dimly lit castle. In its hands was a book, open to a page. The page had a color picture of something on it, but she couldn't see clearly. The hooded being turned a corner, but Twilight's view did not follow. Instead, her dream took her down a narrow stairway, deep into the bowels of the fortress. It was darker and colder down here. Occasionally, there would be a tapestry to lighten up the mood, but otherwise, the subterranean part of the castle was just a huge hall, lit by tiny stubs of candle that guttered and danced. Dark shades, their red eyes glowing in the dark, lurked at the edges of the hall but did not emerge completely in the light._

_And in the middle of that huge hall, lying in the center of a vast engraved hexagram, was a massive pile of bones and scales. There was a tall, thin figure standing just outside the magic circle, holding up a bright green orb that pulsed with magical power. _

_The tall thin figure reached out and tapped the broken pile with a scepter, or a staff of some sort, muttering incantations and spraying blue and red sparks over the whole pile of remains._

_Quickly, the bones and scales began to knit together, clattering over one another in a rush to get to the right places. Twilight felt a thrill of fear and amazement as the bones began to form into the skeleton of a colossal beast, easily the size of a train carriage. Bones gave way to flesh, flesh to skin, skin to scales, scales to spines, all of it in a gleaming shade of black. _

_Finally, the thin figure glided up to the front of the beast, pressing the green orb into its massive chest. _

"_Arise, Mauraxus."_

_And the black dragon opened its glowing green eyes, spread its wings wide, and roared, its voice shaking the very dreamscape. Acidic green fire spewed from its gaping maw, blazing hot slime dripping onto the stone floor._

"I live again…."

_Then, to Twilight's horror, the newly resurrected dragon, and her old enemy, began to walk toward her, its obsidian talons tapping on the stone floor._

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

* * *

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Twilight Sparkle sat up in bed with a jolt, hugging her Smartypants doll close to her sweating body for comfort. She ran her eyes all over the room, searching for the angry dragon that she knew would be coming to eat her up.

Instead, she saw nothing but her beloved books, all quietly sitting on their respective shelves. Twilight exhaled. It was just a dream. Mauraxus was dead; she had killed him herself. There was nothing to worry about at all. Dreams weren't real.

Except…there was still a tapping noise.

The lavender unicorn slowly turned her face to the nearest window, her horn lighting up as she charged a repulsion spell.

* * *

_**You want MY opinion on that world?**_

Grimm sat back in her study, the orb on her chest and the lights in her mask the only indication that there was someone there. "Why yes, Faedran, I would like your input here. What do you think of their government? Let's start with that."

_**Hah. Their government is disorganized, and their ranking system is a mess. If I were you, I would target that first, as their heroes have no place in their 'government'.**_

Grimm, who had been reading up on Sirmyurin's notes, knew that all of what she was being told was little more than opinion and ignorance, mixed with a touch of rage and desire for revenge. It was really quite delicious to listen to. At least, much nicer to listen to than the endless screaming of trapped souls in the labs.

"Mmm-hmm." Grimm said noncommittally. "What about these heroes you speak of? I spent quite a lot of energy raising Mauraxus from the dead last night, so I would like to know about their methods, so I can prevent such a thing from happening again."

_**Their heroes are CIVILIANS. Six, off the road…ponies who somehow harness the most powerful type of magic in their plane of world. We have never encountered that type of sorcery before, or our barriers would have neutralized it. **_

Grimm leaned a bit further forward. Her long hair fell over the eye holes of her mask, but she made no move to brush it away. "Really? A new type of magic? I wonder…" the last part was more aimed at herself than at Faedran, but the superior Gigas didn't mind.

Grimm took out the egg-sized blue orb and turned it over in her gloved hands. If this was truly what she expected it to be, then that 'new magic' would not be a problem this time. But in order to be sure, the officer would have to run a few more…experiments.

"And you were unable to warp the laws of reality to your favor?" Grimm asked sweetly, the light of her table lamp reflecting off the dull finish of her mask.

Faedran clawed at the air. _**That is the most infuriating part. Neither Mauraxus or I was able to grasp the nature of it. We are different from you, Officer. You have millennia of experience with spellbreaking and spellweaving, and are hence able to warp reality without having to understand it. We cannot.**_

"Hmm, you flatter me, Faedran. I wasn't always this good." Grimm said, examining the orb closely. "What do you suggest as a course of action?"

_**You are asking me? Very well, in any case, you should split the heroes up. Their magic was the strongest when they were together, so it stands to reason that if they were split apart, it would grow weaker.**_

"You logic is impeccable." Grimm stood up and pulled a thick leather bound volume off a nearby shelf. "That will be all for now, Faedran, you may go."

Faedran bowed, his teeth flashing in the ambient light of Grimm's eyes, and swooped out of the Arcanum, happy to still be in one piece.

* * *

Moments after Faedran departed, a letter dropped out of thin air and onto Grimm's writing desk with a dull _thud_. The thin, masked officer cautiously picked up the yellow envelope, which was sealed with black wax, stamped with the same three-pronged face that was on Blizzard's flank, in her lexicon, and stitched onto Grimm's sleeve.

The Grand Master's mark. This letter had come directly from the Court, or even from the Grand Master.

She slit it open with a wave of her hand and drew out the message, the violet lights behind her mask flashing as she read it over.

Then Grimm laughed, tossed the letter onto the table with disdain, and went back to reading her book.

* * *

Author's Notes

What did the letter contain?

What is disturbing Twilight?

If you enjoyed it, could you leave a review, please?

Next chapter coming soon.


	4. 3 Closing the Distance

3 Closing the Distance

* * *

I want to thank The Random 1, Chrnokeeper, criketsnipa, FirelfyXZ, and Mulleb for leaving your reviews.

* * *

Twilight jumped when she saw the window. There was something outside, tapping a clawed hand on the glass outside. The lavender unicorn drew the covers around herself. If Mauraxus was outside…she didn't have Soulshatter this time. If the dark dragon really was outside her window…

A face filled the window, silhouetted by the moonlight. Icy blue eyes. A slightly scruffy looking white and bright blue mane.

Twilight let the repulsion spell she had been holding dissipate, galloping over to the window and pulling it open, letting her friend in.

"Blizzard!" Twilight greeted as she used telekinesis to close the window. "You're back from Cloudsdale? Does that mean you're staying in Ponyville?"

Before leaving for the pegasus city of Cloudsdale, Blizzard Gale had been unsure whether to settle in her old family home in the sky, or to stay in Ponyville with her friends. Although she knew that it was more likely that Blizzard would want to keep her old home, Twilight secretly wished that her friend would stay on the ground in Ponyville. There was just so much she wanted to show her.

Blizzard gave Twilight a smile and pulled off her wing guards, careful not to cut herself on the bladed edges. "Well, it's like this, Twilight. I don't want to leave my home in Cloudsdale. I don't want to live in that manor ever again."

Twilight could sympathize. That old house was, even though there was nothing left inside, a nest of darkness and mystery, mysteries that nopony should ever know. But then, this meant…

Blizzard kept talking, gingerly setting the curved metal sheaths against the wall, and shaking out her slightly damp mane. "But then, I realized that everypony I knew from Cloudsdale is…dead." The pegasus sniveled a bit at this, but wiped her eyes and replaced her frown with a smile. "So I had a great idea: I'd move my cloud house to Ponyville! Some of Cloudsdale's weather ponies are pulling it over tomorrow."

Twilight had a whole host of things she wanted to say. Part of her wanted to congratulate her friend on moving to Ponyville, part of her wanted to give her hug after remembering that Blizzard was actually from seventy years ago, and everypony she had known back them was…well…gone. It still made the unicorn's heart ache to know how cruel the fates had been to her friend, but there was nothing she could do about it, really. And although the dark blue pegasus had cheated death not once but twice, the second attempt had left her crippled in the right foreleg, forever condemning her to wear that clawed metal bracer to help her walk. It had also changed her Cutie Mark, melding a sinister emblem in with the normally carefree looking snowflakes. Indeed, her friend had had a hard life, but friendship had made her stronger.

So in the end, Twilight suppressed a yawn and said, "That's great news, Blizzard! Did you manage alright up there? How's Cloudsdale these days?"

The dark blue pegasus took off her bracer and laid it under the window, massaging her foreleg. Even in the half-clouded moonlight, Twilight could see the black flame patterns on it, a solemn reminder of how close she had been to resurrecting a dark entity from another dimension.

"Cloudsdale's…different. I mean, the academy and the weather factory are the only places that haven't changed." Blizzard unfolded and folded her wings. "That's partly why I wanted to come back here, Twilight. I don't know my way around Cloudsdale anymore."

Twilight patted her friend on the back, feeling the strain in her muscles from flying all the way from the city in the sky back to Ponyville. "What was the other reason?" Twilight asked.

Blizzard's icy blue eyes closed as she took a deep breath.

"Being with my friends."

* * *

Graygan regarded at the envelope in his gauntleted hands with a mixture of suspicion and amazement. He could hardly believe it, and the hooded being had seen a _lot _of generally unbelievable things in his years of service.

But this…

A summons to a dinner party was not uncommon in the Grand Master's realm, but an invitation from a _Court member_…this was big. Even more so seeing as Graygan was not even an officer.

But there would be time to mull over this most curious letter later. Right now, if he wanted to make it alive to this dinner, Graygan had best not keep Grimm waiting.

As he crossed the drawbridge, the hooded being went over what he had studied the other night. The lexicon had been most clear on the relationships that Miss Sparkle had, and he made some notes to show Grimm. If the officer was in a good mood, he might even be able to ask a question about her. Maybe.

As he entered the Arcanum, Graygan opened his lexicon, turning to the relevant pages. Having found the notes, the hooded being sat down in his usual armchair and waited. He thought of pulling his hood back, but decided against it. If Grimm was watching from the portrait, then the meeting had already started, and it would be a breach of protocol to change uniform mid-meeting.

Sure enough, the portrait behind the writing desk lit up, the mask of Grimm speaking into the room.

"Ah, Graygan, how pleasant to see you." The cool, feminine voice cooed. "I do hope you've made some progress on the…project?"

"Indeed I have." Graygan sent a pulse of blue sparks into his lexicon, projecting several images into the stuffy library air. "The being known as Twilight Sparkle is exceedingly close to her mentor, as can be deduced from all these memories."

There images showed Twilight and Celestia in various activities of enjoyment, drinking tea together, learning about spells, or just watching the night sky while talking. If it weren't for the age difference, they could be mother and daughter.

"I see." Grimm said, a tint of glee creeping into her voice. "And just how did you acquire these memories? I doubt you went and broke into the unicorn's mind yourself."

"No, Grimm, not at all. I simply opened a back door into the target's mind via the dreamscape, and copied some memories off of there. There was a slight risk of backwash, but if there was, it's not great loss. I was only accessing her mind for about half an hour."

"Well, if Miss Sparkle did manage to get a peek into our world, there's the off-chance that it broke her mind," Grimm said with enthusiasm. "That would make it easier for the project to succeed."

Graygan stood up. "About the project, officer," the hooded being shuffled his raptor-like feet on the sumptuous carpet. "I have a summons to meet with Court member Nightfall tomorrow evening. I won't be able to make it tomorrow, so is there anything I should obtain for our next meeting?"

The portrait of Grimm's mask dimmed slightly. "A meeting with Nightfall? Well, enjoy yourself, I hear she's quite enjoyable to converse with. As for the next time we meet, I want you to bring Vex with you."

Graygan did a double-take. "Vex? Really?"

"Really. We can almost begin the project, Graygan. I need to brief everyone who will be participating on their roles."

The being in black bowed deeply, tucking his lexicon under one arm.

"Oh, one more thing, Graygan."

"Yes?"

"Keep Vex under control this time."

* * *

Deep in the citadel bowels, Mauraxus the black dragon slumbered, gouts of black smoke gushing from his slit nostrils. Although the dragon now had his body back, it would be quite some time before he could leave the basement, as the parts of his soul that had been split apart would need to heal slowly.

Grimm gave the dragon a gentle pat on the snout and walked up the steps out of the dungeon, then took a left and descended into the labs. As she went down, the whining sounds got louder, but Grimm didn't mind. They reminded her of her original occupation before she had been recruited. Such a long, long time ago. Until she had…disposed of them all.

The officer pushed the white stone door open, the enchantments on the slab recognizing her instantly.

The interior of the lab was brightly lit, as always by the thousands of cubes on the walls. But the cubes were just another resource, another thing to be used in her experiments. What Grimm was interested in was a certain _thing_ in the main area, the thing which she had spent the past fifty-six years working on.

Grimm could not suppress a small spring in her step as she approached, even though she had no feet. It was almost ready. Just a few more enchants, then the installation of the small blue orb which she now held in her gloved hand. Gripping her staff in her left hand, and the orb in her right, Grimm began to work, slowly but surely merging the orb with the thing before her.

Another three or four days, and the process would be complete. And then, the fun could begin.

The soul-breaking, laughable fun.

* * *

Author's Notes

A few more chapters of this format, then maybe we'll see what Grimm's been planning.

Leave a review, if you enjoyed it?


	5. 4 Of Thoughts and Court Members

4 Of Thoughts and Court Members

* * *

Thank you to ChrnoKeeper (Your name showed up fine), Ninjagirl01 (Fus Ro Dah!), EpicSmiley12 (Them pesky dracoliches), Waffleman2211 (Sorry if there's a lack of ponies so far, we're almost to the main part of the story), and The Random 1 (Soul breaking, fun? You'd fit right in with Grimm! Awesome!) for leaving your reviews!

Someone wanted to know more about the Court, so consider this a little present…

* * *

"Gee, Pinkie, you couldn't have picked a nicer day for this picnic!" Twilight praised as she settled onto the red and white checkered blanket with her friends.

It indeed was a glorious day. The sun was shining, but not too brightly, and cool breezes tickled their manes, lifting them off their necks just long enough for their fur to be ruffled. The grass was still cool from last night's shower, and seemed to be even greener than usual.

Rainbow Dash had her sunglasses on while trying to read a Daring Do novel. Although it was bright out, the sunglasses were almost opaque, preventing her from actually discerning any of the plot.

Applejack was uncovering a hamper filled to the brim with all manner of goodies, all hoof-baked by the farm mare. "Ah got everything y'all could want here, so dig in! An' Rarity, it's non-fattening,so don't feel like ya need to hold back."

The white unicorn bristled at that comment. "I am _not_ concerned about my weight! I simply am on a diet because it is good for my skin!"

Everypony laughed, and eventually, even Rarity joined in, taking a caramel apple from the hamper.

"So," Rainbow Dash said after polishing off a fritter. "I was wondering, has the Princess come up with any info on that manor?" All heads turned to Twilight.

The Princess's protégé shrugged. "Not really. I mean, the last time she sent seven solar mages there, and they swept the place clean. It's empty…or so they say."

"But…if it empty…why do I still get scared when I see it?" Fluttershy asked, keeping her voice down.

"Fluttershy, you're scared of lots of things-" Rainbow started, only to be cut off my Rarity.

"I feel nervous too, actually. I was delivering a new gown to Carrot Top, and I walked by that old house to get there faster." The fashionista shivered. "It felt like the house was…waiting. I hurried off, but…there's something not right about that place. You can trust a lady's word on that."

"It's not just you girls," said Pinkie, popping out of the lemonade beaker. "_I _hear all sorts of ponies around town talking about that manor, and now Mr. Surehooves, who lives near it, is thinking of moving to the other side of town. That's not normal."

"_Moving?"_ Twilight gasped. "But Mr. Surehooves loves his home! He built it himself, and now he's moving because the manor has suddenly become scary again? That's absurd."

"I dunno, Twi. What if it's that hooded guy again?" Applejack said with concern, adjusting her hat.

Twilight had already considered this. "He said he didn't want to do business with me again. I don't think it'd show up and just stalk everypony."

The conversation died down here, and everypony's thoughts drifted to the events six months prior, when Equestria had encountered another world for perhaps the first time.

"I hope nothing like that ever happens again." Fluttershy said quietly. "It's so _wrong_, what Blizzard's been through."

"Ah agree. Hay, where _is _that gal?"

Twilight frowned apologetically. "She's sleeping. Blizzard…can't sleep during the night, as you know. Her condition."

Rarity made a face. "That sounds ghastly. Is there a cure?"

"Afraid not. Even her lexicon showed up blank."

Pinkie bounced around the other five, leaving confetti in her wake. "Don't worry, just because she's been like that for six months doesn't mean it won't clear up! I mean, Cranky Doodle was a mean ol' cranky pants for _years_ until I met him!"

"I…don't think this is the same, Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said slowly.

"Sure it is, silly! It's just how you look at it! Like how you've been looking at Applejack lately!"

The cyan pegasus started, a light blush forming over her nose. "Wh-what do you mean!"

"Yeah, jus' wut do ya mean?"

The pink party pony just kept right on bouncing. "Oh, you'll see. All in due time!"

Twilight was not so easily deterred from her ruminations. "But…what if those solar mages missed something?" she murmured.

"If it makes you feel any better," Fluttershy whispered. "I…don't feel as scared of that manor anymore after hearing you all talk about it,"

Twilight gave the yellow pegasus a quick hug. "I know, Fluttershy. I just hope that that's the last we see of Faedran, the hooded one, or any of those guys."

* * *

Graygan stepped under the awning of Storm Castle's front gate, the estate of Court member Nightfall. The hooded operative shook the last few drops of water from his coat. Thunder rumbled overhead, and rain cascaded all around the fortress, gleaming off its black walls and red stained glass windows. It was a remote location in the Grand Master's realm, but visible even from Central Square, if one had a set of wings.

However remote it was, Storm Castle was a well-known place. Often, new operatives who were burdened with guilt were sent here for…counseling, if that was what it was called. For that reason, Nightfall did not work in the Court headquarters, but from her home, right here. It was night time, too. Graygan remembered reading somewhere that the surrounding area was bewitched so that it was dark here for twenty hours out of twenty four. It also explained the perpetual rain.

Graygan knocked on the door once, twice, thrice, clutching the dinner invitation in an inside pocket. He was wearing thinner plate gauntlets that allowed a more refined look, yet still covered the hands completely.

After precisely fifteen and a half seconds, the main gates opened, revealing a bedraggled looking alicorn with yellow cat eyes and a limp, black mane. The golden irises slid over Graygan, and for a moment, they flashed with recognition. But then, the alicorn simply pushed past him and left, disappearing through a yellow portal without much enthusiasm.

Graygan shrugged and entered Storm Castle, shutting the door behind him.

Inside, it was mostly black marble, polished to a gleam, and plied over with generous amounts of blood-red carpet. The human shade of blood, Graygan noted. Which made sense. It was a good, thick carpet, too. The being in black could feel his talons sinking into the material.

"Hmph." Graygan muttered. "Now, where is the dining hall?"

He glanced at the invitation again. Left, right, then second door on the left. How thorough.

The rest of the castle was brightly lit with heatless blue torches, casting an eerie reflection in the marble floor. Most of the doors were closed, but the door that Graygan had been looking for was wide open, flickering orange light shining out.

Graygan knocked once, then entered.

* * *

There was a woman inside. A tall, thin young woman with unusually pale skin and blood-red eyes, long, midnight blue hair framing her face. She was standing by a long, richly carved wooden table that was set for two, illuminated by ordinary wax candles. A welcoming smile adorned her shapely face, but it wasn't showing any teeth.

"Ah, Graygan, so glad you could make it!" she said in a refined, relaxing tone. "I've prepared a great many dishes for tonight, so feel free to eat as much as you like. All the leftovers are going to be put to good use, anyhow, so please, have a seat."

So this was the renowned Nightfall, the Court member whose first name no being ever used, save for perhaps other members of the Court and the Grand Master. Graygan sat in his high-backed chair, a napkin tucking itself under his coat's opening. She looked different from the picture in the lexicon, particularly her clothes. In the lexicon's illustration, Nightfall had been wearing a long, black and red dress with a high collar, and high heeled boots with stockings. The being who was getting settled in her seat was wearing sensible black trousers, open toed shoes, fingerless-elbow length gloves, and a white shirt with a red waistcoat. Perhaps she had changed for the meal.

Graygan looked around the room. It was a large dining hall, with three doors leading out of it. One of them was the exit, the one behind Nightfall was locked and barred, and the one directly between the two, smack-dab in the middle of the adjacent wall, was slightly open, the wooden panels letting a draft of cold air through. Graygan thought he heard a moan, but then remembered that it was rude to ignore one's host.

A plate laden with…human food had materialized in front of him. Mashed…_what were those called again?..._potatoes, what looked to be a very rare rack of lamb, and a hardly cooked side of…beef, was it? There was a bowl of creamy soup to the left, and a light salad on the right. Graygan picked up his spoon and began to eat the soup. It was surprisingly good.

"Having a good day, Graygan?" Nightfall asked, the room reflecting her voice over to Graygan with ease. The being in black made a mental note that although she was his host, she was also a Court member, and should be treated with absolute respect.

"Yes, Court member Nightfall. I am enjoying it immensely." He hoped that would suffice for a polite enough answer.

Nightfall winced, baring her unusually sharp canines for a second. "Please, just call me Nightfall. We're just good acquaintances for tonight."

"As you wish, Nightfall." Graygan said, relaxing a bit.

The Court member waved her hand, and levitated a glass bottle from a cleverly hidden shelf. "What would you like to drink, wine, or something different?"

Graygan inwardly wondered why it was that humans loved to drink rotten grape juice so much. At least, from the lexicon's description, that was what he assumed wine to be. However, he didn't want to seem disrespectful, so…

"Wine will be perfect," Graygan said, allowing his host to levitate over a crystal flute of red liquid to him. Nightfall poured herself a glass, just before setting into her lamb with…almost ravenous gusto, despite the meat's bloodiness.

"So," Graygan began. "I bumped into Sirmyurin on the way in. He seemed…distraught."

Nightfall swallowed her mouthful of meat, wiping her lips with a spotless white napkin. "Ah, yes, poor dear. He misses his friends so much, but I can't let him go just yet. Grimm would just send him back here, and I don't want dear him to have to walk all the way there and back."

Graygan drank a little of the wine. It tasted just as bad as he thought it would. "That's kind of you."

"As the only counselor here, it's my duty to ensure that every operative is mentally sound and fit for duty." Nightfall finished off the lamb and tucked into the beef, sawing at it with her steak knife and sending blood spatters all over her napkin and her hair. Some probably got on her waistcoat too, but the red shade was hiding any stains very well.

Graygan listened again, while Nightfall chewed her food. Yes, there definitely was a moaning sound coming from the middle door, and now and then, there would be a _clink_ of metal on metal. Probably some poor fool in the dungeons or something. But why would she leave it open?

Thunder rumbled outside, lightning flashing through the red stained-glass window that spanned the left wall, and the constant rain drumming on the glass. After friendly discussion on the current events, both beings were finished with their meals. Nightfall waved her hand, materializing a scrumptious looking cake in front of Graygan, complete with dremorian icing sugar sprinkled liberally over it. Graygan's favorite. Nightfall herself had nothing, although in the flickering candlelight, the being in black could see a mischievous smile on her pale face.

"You're not eating dessert?" Graygan asked through a bite of cake.

Nightfall shook her head. "I am, it's just taking its sweet time getting here, that's all. How is the cake, by the way? I followed your preferences to the letter."

Graygan grinned deep inside his hood, and his host seemed to sense it too. "It's so good."

Nightfall laughed, an airy, fluttering sound that lightened the mood. "Come by again after you're done with your job with Grimm; I'll make you another one."

"Well, that shouldn't be too long, Grimm's almost ready to start," Graygan remarked. He took another bite of cake.

"How is Grimm?" inquired Nightfall, looking over at the middle door with her blood-red eyes. "Is she keeping well?"

"Oh, yes. She's positively giddy about this new project she's working on. I think-"

Graygan fell silent as his host held up one hand, the other creeping over to her lips, making the universal gesture for _shhh_. Graygan stopped eating, set down his fork silently and peered at the door curiously.

A head peeked out between the wooden panels. A human head with short, shaggy hair and an unkempt beard. Nightfall waved her hand, casting a stream of blue sparks over herself. Graygan didn't see any change, but the man slowly stepped out, revealing a well-built body clothed in what had once been a fine suit, manacles with broken chains fastened around his feet. Dried blood coated his ragged sleeves.

The prisoner looked over at Graygan. "I-Is _she_ gone?" he asked in a trembling voice.

The hooded one glanced at his host. She nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off the prisoner, wetting her lips with her tongue.

"Yes, yes she is." Graygan said casually. "Is there a problem?"

The man crept toward the exit, staggering slightly. "Listen to me," he hissed. "You've got to get yourself out of here!"

Graygan began to eat his cake again, cutting himself another slice. "Oh, really? Why's that?"

The man looked around warily, then took another step toward the exit. "Don't you know who lives here?" the man said hurriedly, staring at the way out.

"I suppose I do. What's the issue?"

The man took two steps from exit and toward the hooded operative, who sat there eating cake like there was nothing wrong. "Because," the prisoner whispered. "The woman who lives here, she's a vam-"

And then Nightfall sprang from her chair, knocking it to the floor as she leapt. Black, membranous wings exploded from her back like massive umbrellas, her eyes coloring over to become completely red, long hair streaming out behind her. Fingernails turned into claws and then the vampire was right on top of the man, who was screaming his lungs out, suddenly able to see Nightfall.

"_Help!_ Help me! He-"

Nightfall slashed his chest with her right hand, the claws ripping through his shirt like it was made of tissue paper and drawing blood. She then took the man in a tight hold, running a clawed finger down his cheek. It cut deep, but was not enough to stop the man from trying to break free.

"_Save me! HELP! HELP!" _he pleaded to Graygan, who was watching the scene with interest, but not leaving his precious cake.

The vampire tilted her head, sinking her fangs deep into the man's jugular vein. He fell limp, but then was almost decapitated by a claw to the spine, cutting through the bone with ease. Nightfall then knelt next to the dead man, drinking his blood in huge gulps and slurps.

"Mmmm…" she sighed as rivers of crimson flowed down her face and onto her chest. "Lovely…"

Graygan went back to eating his cake. It seemed the polite thing to do. When he looked over again, the vampire had reverted back to her more tame- looking form, but was still kneeling under the dead prisoner's neck, letting the red liquid splatter all over her body and into her mouth.

She looked over and flashed the hooded being a grin. "Dessert," she explained. "It's the fear and adrenaline that makes it _oh so sweet."_ A crystal goblet formed in her hand, and she held it under the man's neck-stump, quickly filling it to the brim. She offered it to Graygan. "Try some, it's good."

The hooded being shook his head. "You enjoy it." Nightfall shrugged, pulling her blood-caked hair out of her eyes and downing the goblet in one swallow.

Eventually, Nightfall walked back to the table and took a seat, resting her elbows on the glossy surface with a tipsy smile on her sanguine face. Graygan had long since finished the cake, and was ready to leave Storm Castle.

"Now before you go," Nightfall said happily, seemingly not caring about the blood that was covering her, or that the back of her clothes were ripped from the sudden appearance of her wings. "I have a present for you, and for Grimm too." She handed over two packages, both wrapped in red and black paper. Well, perhaps the red was from all the blood.

"Thank you, Nightfall. You are most kind."

"Yours is a full stock of Phantom-glass. I know how much you like using that stuff, so I decided to make some for you. It's fully enchantable, of course." The vampire looked hungrily at the still warm body that lay on the floor not too far away. "Grimm's present is…well, I won't spoil the surprise, but I think she'll find it quite useful for her project."

Graygan bowed again and made to leave. "Thank you for the dinner and cake." He said politely.

"Not at all. You're welcome any time, save for daytime."

Just before the hooded being left the dining hall, a thought struck him.

He turned around. "You did that on purpose, didn't you. Leaving a way out for him."

Court member Nightfall gave a guilty smile, highlighted by the rivulets of blood still coursing down her face.

"Maaaybe." She said playfully.

Graygan bowed one more time and left the dining hall.

_What a nice dinner._ He thought as he stepped out into the pouring rain. _I do hope that Vex isn't too cross about missing that._

* * *

Author's Notes

So, we have had our encounter with our first Court member.

Sadly, I think she's one of the sanest of the lot.

Leave a review, or risk getting invited to dinner at Storm Castle. Then again, that might not be so bad. Mmm, cake.


	6. 5 No Rest for the Wicked

5 No Rest for the Wicked

* * *

A special thank you to The Random 1 (I hope you enjoyed that cake), Waffleman2211 (Nightfall makes a hobby of murdering people at dinner. It's her idea of fun.), Ninjagirl01 (Twilight characters? Celestia forbid I ever do that), Guest (Please, I'd love to credit you with your review. Just post a name, any name, please?), and Cyberpug99 (Grimm is…different, I can tell you that.) for leaving your reviews.

Got distracted by Zelda for a few days. Oops.

* * *

The cloud house was a little bigger than Sugarcube Corner, and was made almost completely of thunderclouds, dark and brooding. It drifted rather close to the ground, only a few meters away from the grassy field that it was parked over. It was a rather old design, sticking to a more classical pegasus design rather than the vibrant, rainbow flaunting styles of the modern cloud house.

So this was Blizzard Gale's old family home. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hovered outside, looking at Twilight, who glared expectantly up at them. Over the past three days, the resident of this house had not been seen anywhere, and Twilight for one was getting worried. The day before, she had enlisted the help of her flying friends to go and check on Blizzard, just to see if she was alright.

"Go on then, just knock!" she called. "Just see how she's doing!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and knocked on the door, her hoof sinking into the clouds. She tutted. Of course, these old cloud houses didn't have all of the solid cloud partitions that the newer ones had. Hence, knocking was useless.

Rainbow Dash glanced down at her unicorn friend. She was giving them the 'what the hay are you waiting for?' look. The cyan pegasus groaned. She could have been out napping right now, or even doing some work…okay, maybe this was better than work.

Fluttershy had pried the door open a little, her hoof coming away a little damp due to the moisture in the clouds. It was dark inside, and a water-heavy breath of air wafted out as they peered into the murky depths.

Rainbow Dash sighed. There was probably nothing wrong, just maybe Blizzard was down with feather flu or something.

"Come on, Fluttershy, let's just get this over with."

The interior of the cloud house was so dark, Fluttershy had to leave the door open so that they could see. It wasn't really all that big from the inside. The walls were so swollen with water that one good kick would have been enough to empty them. It lent the interior a rather oppressive atmosphere, and caused the air to be unpleasantly humid. It was pretty much silent in the house, but if Blizzard was indeed inside, then she wouldn't be too hard to find.

With Fluttershy starting in the lounge room, Rainbow Dash proceeded into what looked like a bedroom. The interior was full of furniture that was covered in white sheets, like it hadn't been used in a long time. The cyan pony cocked her head and perked up her ears. Had a sound just come from the closet? She stood still and listened, the silence of the old house nastily pressing.

Then it came again. A slight moan, followed by a _clank_ of metal hitting metal.

Rainbow Dash tiptoed over to the closet, and peeked into the crack between the doors. Pitch black.

Suddenly, there was a loud _thump_ from inside the closet, scaring the life out of Rainbow. Her heart racing, the pegasus took flight, slamming into the soft ceiling and falling back down.

"All right," she muttered, scowling at the closet. "I'm going in."

Rainbow Dash threw open the doors, prepared to do battle with whatever was inside.

However, the only occupant of the closet's inside was a dark blue pegasus with a blue and white striped mane.

And bright yellow eyes, gleaming with hunger.

* * *

"B-Blizzard?" Rainbow Dash gasped, retreating and bumping into Fluttershy, who had heard the clamor and had just headed in to investigate.

The dark blue pony blinked. When the eyes opened again, they were icy blue, and dull with fatigue.

"Dash?" Blizzard Gale whispered, staring at the rainbow maned pegasus.

"And Fluttershy!" Rainbow said, holding her chest. "What…what was that?"

Blizzard didn't answer immediately, taking a few breaths before speaking. "It's…a side effect. Ever since you freed me, I've…been having horrible dreams. Every Night. I can hear…Veyrul speaking to me." Blizzard tried to walk out of the closet, but was stopped by a thick length of cloth tying her to the frame inside.

"Oh, my. Did-did you tie yourself down?" Fluttershy asked as she trotted over to untie the bonds.

"Yeah. It's…not safe for me to be loose while sleeping at night. I tried sleeping during the day, and nothing happened then. But I still tie myself up just in case…but…" The dark blue pony wiped her eyes with her right foreleg, which was missing its bracer. "…so tired…"

"Um, your eyes were yellow just now. I don't know if they've done that before, but…"

Blizzard jumped at this. She galloped over to a mirror that was set on the wall that had a huge hole in the center, like it had been punched with a metal claw. Glass was scattered at its base, but the pony ignored the pain as she examined herself, her reflection split into many by the mirror shards. A dozen dark blue faces stared back, tangled manes, and tired blue eyes.

The dark blue pegasus turned back to her friends. "Yellow?" she asked. Just one word.

Fluttershy and Rainbow shook their heads, manes ruffling a bit before falling back into place.

"Well…" the tired pony sighed. "Thanks for checking on me anyway. Is…is Twilight doing okay?"

"She's the one who sent us up to check you." Fluttershy told her.

"Twilight…" Blizzard murmured. "She's cares so much about me?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Sure seems that way. Want us to tell her you're okay?"

Blizzard nodded. "And tell her…I'm sorry for making her worry. It's my fault she bothered you this…morning, is it?" She took a comb out of a nearby dresser and began running it through her mane, but dropped it after a few attempts at working out a snarl.

Fluttershy nodded to Dash, who took the hint and flew out to give Twilight the message. The yellow pegasus went over to her friend, who was sprawled out on the soft floor, eyes half open. Without saying anything, Fluttershy pulled a blanket out of the closet, tucking it over her friend's prone form. Then she took up the comb and began to run it through Blizzard's mane, all the while singing a soft lullaby. As she sang, Blizzard Gale's expression grew softer, and her dreams eased.

"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head…"

* * *

Grimm stood at the front of the Arcanum, towering over the rest of the occupants. It was moments like this that she relished, finally assigning the first steps of a mission. Court members got to do this on a regular basis, but their plans were all pre-made, submitted by officers beforehand. Grimm's plans were, in a way, hand-stitched. She discerned every detail, predicted every outcome, knew all of the operatives personally.

In the center of the room, there was a roughly four foot high object, covered in a black and purple cloth that shimmered and rippled. The shroud kept the contents contained, stopped any excess power from leaking out and causing unnecessary problems. And once the project was unveiled, the shroud would make a nice cape, if it came to that.

It was time to speak, to set the wheels of her plan in motion. Faedran, Graygan, and Vex were in the room, although the last one was not visible.

"My fellow operatives." Grimm said, her mask flashing in the lamplight. It was late, and it was dark out, but Grimm enjoyed keeping her Arcanum dark. It added to the air of importance.

"Today, I have called you here because, due to each of your prior dealings, I have deemed you worthy of being the ones to carry out a mission for the glory and profit of the Grand Master."

Grimm stalked back and forth behind her desk, the shadows clinging to her like a cloak, her raven hair fanning out behind her. "Faedran, because of your last mission, have the most experience with the world of Equestria. I will use your experience to provide support for those in the outer realms."

Faedran grinned a little wider at this. Acting as support meant not actually going outside. That was just fine with the superior Gigas. More time to drink tea and play chess.

Grimm continued. "Graygan." The hooded being bowed his cowled head. Due to your high success rate, skill as a dreamweaver, spellcaster, and previous dealings with the target's protégé, I have selected you as the first of the team that I will send in to Equestria."

"Vex." Grimm said loudly, waving a hand and brightening the room just a little and lengthening all their shadows, casting pillars of darkness on the red carpeted floor.

Graygan's shadow danced, showing the outline of a huge creature with arms, wings, and a tail. The shadow's mouth was open in a toothy leer, displaying the silhouettes of sharp fangs. Then, the shadow jumped, suddenly erupting from two-dimensional into the third dimension. The black creature eyed the rest of the beings with eyes of bright orange, rimmed with violet.

"I am heeere." Vex hissed. "What would you have of me, Necromantress?"

Grimm stepped closer to the shadow being. "Vex. Due to your…skill in combat and ability to blend into almost any environment, as well as your skill with spellbreaking, I have chosen you to be the second of the team I will be sending to Equestria. Serve me well, Vex."

Vex laughed, an awful gurgling sound. "Oh yessss. Of course, Necromantress. I will serve you with utmost…distinnnction."

Graygan looked about the room. "Officer, I see no one else in the room. Are we the only three involved?"

Grimm sat down at her desk, an armchair forming beneath her as she sat. "Oh no, of course not. Tradition requires at least four, and I have already found the fourth member of this team. But first, I will be explaining what exactly you will be doing.

The masked officer summoned a slowly revolving image of Canterlot in the air. It was amazingly detailed, from the smallest paving stone to every single pony that walked the streets.

"Sirmyurin, an operative that is undergoing counseling right now," Faedran growled as Grimm spoke of his wayward teammate. "collected various pieces of intelligence from this world, Equestria, the last time he was here. Now, I have sifted through all of it, and have decided on the target."

"Yesss? What is it? Just tellll me, and you can consider that soul…devoured." Vex sank back into the floor, but the eyes continued watching, glowing with unnatural light.

Grimm stabbed her staff's end into the floor. "No. You will not devour the target's soul. I want it brought back _intact._ It is a rather high-quality soul, if my research is to be trusted. I want to…conduct some tests on it."

Graygan raised a finger. "Alright, but what soul is it? A civilian, a deity, a demigod, whatever. What soul is it?"

Grimm tilted her masked head and conjured up a second image. It showed a tall white alicorn with a rainbow mane, adorned with various articles of royal regalia.

"This is Princess Celestia, the day time ruler of this world." Grimm said sharply. Faedran rolled his eyes, the red glow dimming as the orbs within rotated. It was one of _those _worlds. "Her soul is highly collectible, and valuable. I want it brought to me, intact. Not a bite out of it, do you understand, Vex?"

Vex's grin died down a little. "Of couuurssse, Necromantress. I understand."

Graygan had been looking in his lexicon, gauntleted hands turning every page with care. "Grimm, you've told us the basics of this mission, but what about the details? It's important for me to know the small details if I am to perform at my best."

"Graygan. Attentive as always. I have passed the rest of the plans to your lexicons. You may read them there."

Faedran frowned, setting his white teeth in a semicircle. "But Grimm, if your intention was not to explain the plan in full, why call us all here tonight?"

Grimm, the Officer with over fifteen thousand years of service, laughed. It was a genuine laugh, one that Grimm did not often get to use.

"Why, to introduce you to your final team member, of course."

And with that, Grimm took hold of the cloth covering the object in the center of the room and flung it aside, exposing the thing beneath for all to see.

"Ah. _Now_, it makes sense." Graygan said.

* * *

Author's Notes

The plan begins. Grimm's motives are revealed...or are they?

Also, Nightfall asked me to invite those of you who didn't review to a lovely dinner at Storm Castle.

Leave a review, please?


	7. 6 Outset

6 Outset

* * *

Thank you to The Random 1 (Celestia _should_ watch her back. And her front. And her sides...well, you get the idea.), Ninjagirl01 (Vex is an odd character, but I suspect we'll all grow to love her later), Waffleman2211 (The mystery abouds), and Featherstone180 (I'd love to tell how Grimm plans on succeeding, but Grimm's plan is...complicated. I'd like it to unfold and show how it works. Still, I appreciate the idea!) for leaving your reviews.

* * *

It was a clear night. The moon shone down upon Ponyville, and entire constellations of stars twinkled gently on the sleeping town. The soft, ambient light revealed open windows, with ponies of all varieties in their beds, sleeping and dreaming of pleasant thoughts. Princess Luna lavished all of her effort and skill into making the night as brilliant as possible, and on this night in particular, it showed.

No wonder the Moon Princess had become bitter when nopony stayed up to witness her craft.

Well, on this particular night, there was one pony who was up and about. The outline of a flying pegasus flitted across the full moon, allowing the moonlight to gleam on her clawed bracer and wing guards. She darted into a thicket of trees, keeping out of sight of any ponies that might still be up.

The pegasus launched herself out of the tree, trailing leaves behind her. She plotted a course for her next stop, another tree.

Another tree with windows and a door.

* * *

"Whew." Twilight Sparkle breathed, closing her notebook on deep forest flora. "Finally done."

The unicorn levitated the book over to her desk and tucked it between her books on deep forest fauna and deep space mysteries. She yawned, glancing at the clock. Ten past one. Huh. Time to hit the hay-

_Tap tap tap._

Twilight looked over to the window, expecting her owl assistant to be there with a dead mouse or something equally stomach-turning.

Instead, she was greeted with the smiling face of her friend, Blizzard Gale, who was hovering outside, a box clasped in her mouth.

Twilight pulled the window open, letting her friend in and igniting the candles she had only just put out. Blizzard hopped inside, shaking out her mane and setting the box down at her hooves. She seemed to be perfectly fine except for a moderately deep cut on her face.

"Blizzard!" Twilight exclaimed, but not too loudly. "What are you doing here? What happened to your face?"

The dark blue pegasus touched the cut with her left foreleg. "Oh, that. I-um, just cut myself on a branch as I flew here. No biggie." She picked up the box and handed it to Twilight, then took off her wing guards, placing them carefully next to the window.

Twilight opened the box with her magic, her eyes widening when she saw the contents. Nestled inside the folded cardboard was a gleaming metal letter-opener, topped at the handle with an orange gem that reminded Twilight of Faedran's statues. The blade shone in the light of the moon, tracing the razor sharp edge of the tool. It almost looked like a dagger, but had no hilt.

"It's wonderful, Blizzard! But, why the sudden gift?" Twilight asked, putting the letter-opener back in the box.

Twilight's friend dabbed at the cut on her face, wincing as the contact sent a needlepoint of pain through her body. Twilight enveloped the wound in magic, and in no time, there was no sign of any injury at all.

"It's…kind of a way of saying sorry." Blizzard said, smoothing down the fur on her face.

"Sorry? What for?"

"I'm sorry for worrying you. I…wasn't myself, but I should have told you. You had to check on me. Take time out of your own schedule. I'm sorry I bothered you." Blizzard confessed. "I should be able to take care of myself by now…"

Twilight walked up to the pegasus's face and held her chin up. "Blizzard." She said. "There's no need to apologize for that. I understand that you're not always fine, and I care about you."

"But you're so busy; I know how many things you have on your checklists-"

Twilight pressed a hoof to Blizzard's mouth. "It's okay."

The pegasus nodded, still not fully convinced. Then her lip twitched.

"What?" Twilight asked.

Blizzard Gale began absent-mindedly massaging her right foreleg, the one which bore the mark of Veyrul's possession. "It's…nothing." She whispered. The pony began to make for the window, slotting her left wing guard in place. "I-I should go now. Sorry for bothering you. Again."

Twilight wanted to say something, to soothe the flustered pony, but Blizzard Gale was already gone, a small shadow in the inky night sky, leaving the letter-opener and a confused Twilight behind.

* * *

Graygan hummed inside his hood, a tune that was melancholy yet upbeat at the same time. In his gauntleted hands, he held a music box. It was engraved with dark runes, quietly pulsing in the light of his blue lamp. He slowly wound the key, then released it, letting the music box play its tinkling, haunting melody. It was a tune the hooded one knew well; after all, it was the funeral march of his home world.

While the box played, Graygan opened his lexicon and turned to the pages which held the details of Grimm's plan. It was long and elaborate, as they always were. Graygan studied them well. Most of it was to take place in the areas known as Ponyville and Canterlot, a little of it spanning into a little thicket of trees known as the Everfree forest.

As he read, the being in black tapped his taloned feet on the floor in a steady rhythm. The more he read of the plan, the more he admired Grimm's ingenuity and wickedness. She truly deserved to be in the Court more than any being he knew.

Graygan's shadow flickered a little. Vex's eyes glowed on the floor as the shadow being emerged.

"Grrraygann. Still reading the innnstructions, I see?"

The hooded one closed his lexicon. He had read through the plans over a dozen times already. He liked Vex. The being of shadow was useful, and possessed a unique set of skills, even if she was rather…aggressive. Was it a she? Vex certainly liked to be referred to as a female, so perhaps she had been female once upon a time. They might never find out.

"Vex. I'm happy you're coming with us. Your…brusque style on interdimensional interactions will prove most useful to the first part."

The shadow being said nothing. Graygan rested his armored hands on his lap. "Why so glum, my friend?"

Vex didn't say anything, but flapped her wings and clacked her fangs together.

Graygan opened his lexicon again, turning in the black volume's pages until they came to a rest on the last pages of Grimm's instructions. "Is it the conditions? Is that why you're in such a foul mood?"

"YESSS. I despise missionssss like thisss."

"Is it because of the 'No unnecessary killing' part?" Graygan read.

"No." Vex huffed. "Not allll of it, anyway…"

"Is it the 'No devouring of free souls' part?"

"YES!" Vex screamed. "I wish to feed and gorge on souls! And here isss a realm _fullll_ of high-purity souls. It drivessss me mad."

Graygan laughed, privately thinking about how Vex was pretty much already mad. The hooded being went over to his tower's main room and looked down onto Central Square, admiring how well business went even after dark. Even as they watched, deals were being conducted, wares were being sold. "Oh, Vex. You might not know this, but the world we are going to is relatively peaceful. It's what some beings might call a utopia."

Vex joined Graygan at the window. "What doesss that have to do with my prrredicament?"

"Heh." Graygan breathed. "Well, Vex, despite the peacefulness of that world, they have a military. It's not very prominent, but it's there."

"Howww doesss this-"

"Let me finish." Vex shut her mouth, but arched her back a fraction, a sign of her attacking stance. Graygan kept talking. "As I was saying, aside from the conditions, we are free to do this however as we like. So, if we were to say…play this right…maybe this Celestia would send a few guards after us."

Vex's orange eyes gleamed evilly as she considered the implications of what her partner had told her. "Sooo. If those guarrrds were to, sayyy, attack us…that wouldn't be avoidable, wooould it?"

Graygan shrugged, put the lamp out and picked up his lexicon.

"Come, Vex. We must get to the armory. It's almost time for us to start."

The hooded one headed for the door, and was about to turn the doorknob when his shadowy companion spoke up. "Graygan," she whispered.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember our first mission together?" Vex's wings folded behind her semi-opaque body as she awaited her answer.

Graygan nodded, the light from the window the only thing keeping him from vanishing into the shadows himself. "You helped me accomplish my life's goal that day, Vex. I shall never forget it."

Vex grinned, her triangular head tilted forward. "Neither shall I, my friend. It was a most enjoyable day."

And with that, Vex melted back into Graygan's shadow, and they both departed for the armory.

And maybe, just maybe, this mission would be almost as fun as that one had been.

* * *

Graygan, Vex, and the final team member stood at the Gate Hub, the public access point for the Grand Master's realm. The visit to the armory had been quick, as Vex required no weapons, and their third member seemed to be already set. Graygan himself had taken his usual gear, with the exception of the Volkidar glaive. After all, this wasn't an assassination or an elimination, it was an…Official Visit. That was what Grimm had called it. An Official Visit.

Graygan's brown bag was slung over his black-coated shoulder, feeling lighter than usual. Which as to expected, since it really only contained a tea set, his gift from Nightfall, a few odds and ends, and his favorite weapon, the Phantom-glass projector. Not that he actually planned on using it much. Maybe a few shots at most. Graygan preferred to avoid physical conflict, and when it came to that, preferred spells over most weapons.

As they waited for the Gatekeeper to finalize their access point to Equestria, Graygan glanced at his shadow. Vex was there, alright. He could feel her presence, drawing magic into his shadow. They wouldn't be entering through the manor; Mauraxus' transformation had seen to that; the inside was completely gutted. Instead, they would be using a more…conventional method of entry.

Graygan turned his hooded face to their final team member. They hadn't spoken much, but Grimm had insisted that they get to know each other to same degree.

"Hey." The hooded being said. "You got a name?"

The creature looked back with eyes of fiery scarlet. Those eyes bored into Graygan's own, and were it not for the lattice of enchants that her had laid on himself, Graygan suspected that something bad would have happened. The eyes softened, settling into a warm but hostile orange.

"My name...is Shroud."

* * *

Author's Notes

So many mysteries.

At last, we are ready to start this tale in earnest.

Leave a review, it only takes a few moments!


	8. 7 Grimm Tidings

7-Grimm Tidings

* * *

Well, thank you to Ninjagirl01 (We are in for a ride indeed), Chrnokeeper (Celestia can handle it...maybe.), Waffleman2211 (Maybe this chapter will prove more criticism worthy?), and The Random 1 (I eagerly await your return) for leaving your reviews.

* * *

The gardens around Grimm's citadel were as pristine and lush as they always were. Dark shades drifted back and forth, maintaining every last square meter of it, making sure the grounds looked presentable. At the top of one of the towering turrets, overlooking the gardens, was the mistress of the castle herself, Grimm. Her mask gleamed in the light of the sun-like orb in the sky. It was mid-morning, and under the gazebo in which Grimm and Faedran now stood, looking on as a shade poured out their morning tea.

Well, tea for Faedran at least. Grimm didn't eat or drink. Nor did she sleep, therefore, the officer was able to work non-stop, as she had been doing for nearly all of her existence. The Grand Master only knew how many plans she had concocted, how many had fallen to her devious plots. Grimm's name was notorious among the higher ranking operatives for one whom you contacted when you wanted something done in a very roundabout, underhanded way. Needless to say, Grimm received many, many offers, few of which she actually accepted. Even now, as the shade served them biscuits and cake, the officer was going through the details of her plan, watching Faedran start to eat.

After the Gigas polished off the last of the cream tarts, he asked Grimm, "There's something I never understood about your plans, officer. Why not just open a gate behind the target, grab her soul, and leave?"

Grimm stared at the now-empty table. She would have checked her nails, but she didn't have any hands. Instead, the officer inspected the stitching on her elegant black gloves. "Faedran, I'm surprised at you. Tell me: when you set out to play a chess game, do you play it for your own amusement, or just to win?"

"To have fun." Faedran confirmed.

Grimm seemed pleased by this answer. "Then you understand my motives. The whole of existence is my chessboard, as I am free to play with it as I see fit. Once you reach my rank and age, you will understand."

"Still," Faedran refuted. "Wouldn't it be better for your goal to just do as I suggested? This isn't a game."

Grimm didn't immediately answer, rather electing to take her staff and tap it on the tabletop, causing a massive network of chessboards, all hovering one atop the other, to appear. Pieces appeared on the five floating boards, the small, masterfully carved figurines marching to their respective spaces.

"White or black?" Grimm asked Faedran.

"White. But you still didn't answer, officer."

Grimm sighed. Faedran was a good operative, but often, Grimm found him too resolute to actually understand the _reasoning_ behind her elaborate schemes. Grimm reached out and tapped a piece on the forth tier board.

"Pawn to third plane, D-3."

In response, the pawn moved from the fourth board down onto the third. This was a rather fun game, and required an immense amount of skill and observation to play. There were five boards, each with their own set of pieces. However, each board's situation would affect the ones directly above or below it, forcing the players to think ahead. It wasn't just normal human chess either; there were more than fifteen new pieces. Each piece had at least three unique abilities, and others could be summoned if desired.

Faedran tapped an empty space on the second tier board. "Fiendwarrior to X-23, same plane." He said.

Grimm stared intently at the game, allowing herself a moment to relax. She trusted Graygan, Vex, and Shroud to do their jobs well. After all, she had employed the best operatives that were available.

"Mounted Crossbow, third plane, attacks forth plane Pawn, direct parallel." She said.

Faedran rolled a die. It came up on a flashing spiral rune. The Gigas grinned, showing even more teeth. "Blocked, I'm afraid. I hope you're not expecting an easy game, officer. I'm not good at losing any kind of game."

Grimm opened her lexicon and propped it up at the edge of the table, giving her a view of the inside of the book as well as the game. The pages held no words, but showed a moving picture of Graygan, Vex, and Shroud at the Gate Hub. Grimm would be watching them closely, using her lexicon to monitor their every move.

"Neither am I, Faedran. Neither am I."

* * *

Twilight sat up, having just put Spike to sleep. The baby dragon was snoring away in his bed, but the unicorn wasn't ready to join him in the land of dreams just yet. She was expecting somepony. Specifically, a pony who could only come out at night.

She didn't have to wait for very long. Within the next half an hour, a shadow flitted across her window, then manifested itself as a silhouette of a pony's face, one with a disheveled mane around her head.

The lavender unicorn opened the window, allowing Blizzard Gale to flap inside her tree home. She looked a little tired, and there were three light scratches across her face. But the thing that caught Twilight's attention the most were her eyes. The one on the right was icy blue as always, but the left one was gleaming a bright amber yellow, glowing like a lantern. Then she blinked, and the yellow was gone.

"Um. Blizzard? You got my note, right?"

Blizzard nodded, pulling a neatly written letter out of her saddlebag. "I got it." She said quietly, sitting down. "I've wanted to talk to you too. I…shouldn't have left like that the other day. It wasn't polite of me to."

"No, no! It's fine. And the gift, it's great!" Twilight edged a slight bit closer. "I wanted to talk to you tonight because…and this sounds a little silly, but...I don't know." Twilight thought back to when she had been writing the note that she had left at Blizzard's home that morning. True, she had wanted to see the pegasus, but now that she thought of it, the unicorn couldn't remember why. Most peculiar.

Blizzard shuffled her front hooves. "Well, whatever you want to talk about, I'm here. I just wish we could do this with the other girls…" Her lip twitched, which Twilight recognized as a sign of her friend's way of holding back tears. The lavender pony cupped Blizzard's face in her hooves.

"Blizzard Gale. It's not your fault. It's Veyrul's. I know you'd love to be out in the sunlight, but we can still talk at night. I'll organize a sleepover or something."

"Thanks, Twilight, but…it's not that. I'm okay with being nocturnal." Twilight didn't believe her. The dark blue pony sniffled. "I-I miss them, Twilight. I've been trying to cope for six months now, but I miss…mom and dad."

Twilight pulled Blizzard into a hug, feeling the pegasus's fur against hers as her friend finally let go, dampening her shoulder with tears. "I want to see them again." She whispered. "Just to let them know…I'm safe…"

Twilight held her friend tight, patting her gently between the wings and murmuring soft nothings into her limp ears. Twilight had thought it was hard living away from her parents in Canterlot, but she hadn't considered how painful it would be if she had never even gotten to say goodbye, or if her parents considered her dead, and she really wasn't. Any pony's heart would have broken, not just Blizzard's.

After some time, Blizzard stopped crying, and wiped her eyes with her left hoof. It came away red-streaked, for the cut on her face was still leaking blood. Twilight went to fix it with a spell, but Blizzard waved her off.

"I can't rely on you all the time." She said. "I…want to be able to take care of myself."

"But, Blizzard, I _want_ to help you. If there's anything you need me to do, just ask."

Blizzard Gale looked thoughtfully at the floor as she ran her clawed bracer through her mane. "Could you…could you sit with me?" she asked, walking over to Twilight's balcony, the one which held her telescope.

"O-okay." Twilight dutifully walked over to join Blizzard, who had perched herself next to the balcony's entrance, folding and unfolding her wings absently.

They sat in silence, as the half-moon in the sky stood sentinel over them both. It was a cold night, but neither of them felt like moving just yet. Instead, both ponies gradually snuggled closer to each other for warmth, simply enjoying the clear, cold night sky.

Twilight looked at Blizzard Gale. She looked back, reflecting her face in those icy blue eyes.

"Twilight." Blizzard whispered. "There's been something…I've wanted to tell you…"

"What?" the lavender pony asked gently, leaning closer. She could smell her friend's mane. It smelled sugary.

There was a sudden flare of yellow light from the sky, roughly from the direction of Canterlot. A few seconds later, there was a noise like the world's largest bonfire. Twilight and Blizzard snapped their heads away from each other, staring at the source of the light and sound.

High up in the sky, glowing like a miniature sun, was a vibrant yellow meteor, roaring across the starry canvas like a drop of magma on an ice field. As it streaked away from Canterlot, it lost altitude, so that when it passed over Ponyville, the unearthly body of light was barely above the clouds.

Then it was gone, and a shockwave blasted across the ground, originating from the Everfree forest. Ponies everywhere awoke, lights in houses turning on as a mobs gathered in the streets, wondering what exactly had just happened.

Twilight and Blizzard wasted no time. Leaving Spike in his bed, the two ponies galloped outside, into the cold night.

* * *

Grimm studied the game with her glowing violet lights. Then she tapped the top board.

Dutifully, a knight stepped out and struck at Faedran's Void Paladin, which parried the strike, but was ultimately destroyed by a blade in the gut.

The officer looked at her lexicon as the remains of the Void Paladin vanished from the board.

"Game on."

* * *

Author's Notes

Sorry about the late upload. Got word that one of my old friends committed suicide two days ago.

I'll miss you, Stephen.

Anyway, two paths are about to cross. Who will emerge victorious?


	9. 8 Vexing Circumstances

8 Vexing Circumstances

* * *

First off, I owe you all a big apology. I said I would be back by the 24th of August, and I wasn't. I hope you can forgive me for such a lapse in my story's progress.

Second, I'd like to thank Guest, Prince Nox, Crimson11Delight, The Random 1, Wffleman2211, Chronokeeper, and Ninjagirl01 for leaving your reviews. Even if you've forgotten about this story, I will always remember the support you've given me.

* * *

Twilight and Blizzard found themselves in the middle of a flash mob, ponies galloping this way and that, clamoring to know what was going on. Windows were being broken, flowerpots overturned. It was pure pandemonium. Here and there, ponies were shouting their theories as to what in the name of the Sun was going on.

"Ursa Major…"

"Nightmare Moon…night time eternal…"

"Run for your lives!"

"…end, save yourselves!"

Ponies ran everywhere, knocking over stalls and breaking windows. If this didn't get sorted out soon, Ponyville would be leveled. Twilight facehoofed. One of the poorer traits of ponies, in her opinion, was to panic when something unknown happened, and not find out how to fix it.

Amidst the chaos, Twilight saw something. Something she never thought she'd see any time soon. There, clad in golden armor and purple robes, were three familiar unicorn ponies, using their magic to keep the crowds contained. They all had white coats and blue eyes, two stallions and a mare. They ushered the panicking civilians back into their homes, using telekinesis if they resisted. All their spells were cast with absolute mastery, something only a well-learned mage would know how to do.

Twilight's heart leapt. Those were, without a doubt, three of Celestia's Solar Mages. Had they been sent to investigate the yellow meteor? If so, they were remarkably swift in their response. It had barely been five minutes since the meteor's appearance, and yet here they were! Celestia sure knew how to pick them.

The lavender unicorn made her way through the rabbling mass of hooves and manes, teleporting around a particularly thick gathering of ponies at one point.

"Hey!" she said, upon reaching the nearest Solar Mage. "What's going on?"

The mage glanced at her, looked away, then stared at her again. The mage slowly removed his helmet, lifting it off of his horn and putting it on the ground.

"Twilight Sparkle?" the stallion asked tentatively. His sky blue eyes widened, ignoring the rampaging around them. "Is that really you?"

Twilight had also stopped cold. No. It couldn't be…not after all those years.

"Spellbinder?" she whispered, her voice losing its potency in the shock.

The stallion took two steps toward the librarian, his silver mane rippling in the moonlight, his eyes still searching over her as though not really believing what he was seeing.

"I-I can't believe it's really you." He said. "How've you been?" the mage blushed under his white coat, his horn letting off a few errant sparks. A flowerpot crashed down next to them, but nobody paid it any attention, despite a piece of pottery embedding itself into the wall nearby.

Twilight's face mirrored the mage's expression. "Spellbinder…" she murmured, a smile breaking out on her face. "But I thought you'd been transferred to Manehattan University?"

The stallion, Spellbinder, gave Twilight a rueful grin, running a hoof through his mane embarrassedly. "Well, Twilight, long story short, I graduated, got a job, came back to serve the Princess. Things have changed, but I want you to know, I'm still-"

There was a crash from the direction of the Everfree Forest as a tree toppled down, its leaves in flames.

One of the other Solar Mages gave Spellbinder a punch on the shoulder. "Hey, Spellbinder, we're on the job here! Celestia's depending on us!"

Spellbinder stood at attention, then levitated his helmet back onto his head, his horn slipping into the accommodating hole with a _snick_.

"Sorry, Twilight, but I've got a job to do. I'll catch up with you later, okay? We've got a lot to talk about," said the silver maned stallion as he charged off after his two companions, who were already almost out of town.

Twilight watched them go, a small smile still stretched out on her face.

"Oh, Spellbinder," she said softly, shaking her head. "Still dyeing your mane silver I see…"

Blizzard Gale waited a full thirty seconds before poking her friend in the flank.

"Hey Twilight, you knew that guy?"

The lavender unicorn seemed to snap out of a trance. "Oh, oh yeah. We ummm…went to school together."

She went on to say more, but there was a huge flare of orange light from the forest, and a scream. Another tree came down, evicting a whole flock of birds as its trunk snapped.

"I'll explain later. We've got to get to the bottom of this."

Blizzard nodded and spread her wings, barely registering the weight of her wing guards as she and Twilight raced to the meteor's point of impact.

As they neared the crash site, her Cutie Mark began to tingle uncomfortably, the red eyes on her flank lighting up in the gloom.

* * *

The first thing that registered to Twilight was that the bridge that led out of town had been all but decimated. A few splintered planks of smoldering wood still clung to a small pile of rubble, but otherwise, there was nothing spanning the river anymore. She teleported over the bubbling brook and kept going, the dark blue pegasus hot on her hooves.

As they got even closer, Twilight could see that the meteor had gouged a trench in the ground as it had landed, leaving a deep scar in the earth. Casting her eyes further up as she ran, Twilight registered that the trench that the space rock had left was not all that big…barely bigger than a wagon. Still further up ahead was a sizeable crater, still burning with bright orange fire.

Blizzard flew a little closer to Twilight. "Wow," she gasped between wingbeats, "Who'd have thought that one meteor could do so much damage?" Her bracer glinted in the firelight, the orange light highlighting the razor-thin blade that was clipped to the underside.

Twilight was running out of breath fast, spitting out a fast "I don't know" before skidding to a halt at the edge of the crater.

Both mares gasped in dark surprise at what lay in the center.

* * *

"Necromancer to third plane, D-23." Faedran commanded, the appropriate piece sliding to the allotted place.

Grimm dipped her masked head slightly, surveying the game and her lexicon at the same time.

"Shade wraith, second plane, takes Necromancer D-23."

At the officer's command, a black, smoky piece dropped straight through the second plane and onto the third, crushing Faedran's Necromancer piece with its jaws.

Faedran hissed. "I should have seen that coming." The superior Gigas said grumpily.

Grimm waved for it to make its move.

"Oh, don't feel too bad, Faedran. At least you saw _this_ coming…"

Both operatives stared into Grimm's lexicon, watching the action unfold…

* * *

In the center of the crater, still smoldering and smoking, was a circle of darkest black. It was so black that it seemed to absorb light, creating a void in the ground rather than a surface. In fact, it looked so much like a hole that Twilight an blizzard both jumped back when two red eyes appeared on the circle's surface.

The eyes darted from this way to that, drinking in its surroundings, then abruptly vanished.

There was the sound of galloping hooves. The mares turned to see Spellbinder and his two companions arrive from the riverbank. There was a boat on the shore, hastily moored to a riverside rock.

"Hey, you ladies got here pretty quick! How'd you deal with the bridge?" a taller stallion with rosy red eyes asked.

"They teleported, obviously," said the mare, who was readying a spell of some kind as they cautiously approached the crash site. "I told you we should have done that."

"Well without proper knowledge of the terrain, teleportation can be dangerous…"

"Not as dangerous as failing the Princess!"

"Oh come on…"

"Quiet!" Spellbinder yelled, putting his head between his two arguing teammates' faces. "And you call _me_ amateurish at times?"

The ground shook, cracks forming in the edge of the crater and sending clods of dirt rolling toward the bottom. As all five ponies turned to look, a bolt of bright orange lightning burst from the center of the black circle and struck a nearby tree, turning part of the trunk into ash with the intensity of its heat. Twilight and company flinched as the massive tree swayed, then crashed into the ground, scattering leaves and branches everywhere.

Spellbinder's rosy-eyed compatriot tried to douse the flaming wood with water from the stream, but the otherworldly fire seemed to absorb the water, growing in both intensity and temperature.

Even as the fire spread, so did the black circle, doubling in diameter. The red eyes appeared once again, scanning the area before locking onto another tree, one right behind Blizzard Gale.

Twilight knew what was going to happen, but even as she began to conjure a shield, the eyes vanished, and a bolt of orange lightning surged from the center of the black circle, forking right at the airborne pegasus.

Spellbinder's horn lit up like a torch, the strength of his spell forcing him to screw up his eyes. The fallen trunk of the last tree jumped forward, blocking the lightning bolt, while another mage yanked Blizzard out of the way and clear of the wood shrapnel.

Twilight was at her friend's side, pulling the stunned pony to her hooves. The female mage surveyed the black circle, which had now almost spread to the top of the crater. Her light blue tail swished as she calculated what to do.

"What's your plan, Jinx?" The rosy-eyed stallion asked, taking his place at her side.

Jinx glanced at him, a sly smile forming under her helmet. "How about we give that black hole a little lightning of our own?"

"I hear you. Hey, miss!" The stallion galloped over to Blizzard, who was shaking her head, getting leaves out of her mane. "I know you're a little dazed, but we need your help." Blizzard nodded, still preening her mane with her clawed bracer. "We need you to find the biggest cloud in the sky, and get it back here. Can you do that?"

He had barely finished his instructions when Blizzard Gale shot off into the sky, wings beating furiously.

"Good girl." Spellbinder said. To the rest, he shouted, "All right everypony! Grab something and try to block the next lightning strike! Come on, double time!" As he yelled, he seized a boulder from nearby and held it at the edge of the crater, watching the center.

Twilight found herself next to her old classmate. He was not as big and tall as Shining Armor, but he looked like soldier just the same.

He glanced down at her and grinned. "Not the kind of reunion I was expecting." He muttered to her.

"What, you actually wanted to see me again?" quipped the lavender mare as she readied a plank of wood from the bridge.

Spellbinder looked pained. "Twilight, it's not like that. I wanted to write, but…"

"Get ready!" Jinx hollered. Sure enough, the red eyes were back, gazing at a tree to Twilight's left. Once again, the orange lightning stabbed out, but this time, it was intercepted by a boulder and a plank of wood, blasting the items to dust but leaving the tree unharmed.

The two unicorns quickly grabbed new pieces of detritus to use as shields.

"Good work, Twilight. But then, you always were top of your grade."

"Hey, you did great too, Spellbinder."

* * *

Blizzard Gale dashed from cloud to cloud, searching for the biggest one there was. Unfortunately, it was a pretty clear night, and there was hardly a cloud to be seen, only wispy tufts of white cotton drifting on the wind.

"Oooh." She fretted. "Back home in Cloudsdale, there'd be plenty of clouds…"

Suddenly, the pegasus stopped flying, losing a few meters of altitude before her body caught up to her mind.

Home. That gave her an idea.

* * *

"Ugh…we're running out of shield material!" the rosy eyed mage called over. "We need that cloud, and fast!"

Another lightning bolt disintegrated a pile of dirt that had been hastily piled in front of the crater. Indeed, the mage spoke true. There wasn't a whole lot left in the area but dust and ashes, and nopony dared to run off to grab more debris.

Then suddenly, the moonlight that shone over the whole scene was blocked out. Blocked out by the biggest, thickest looking thundercloud anypony had seen.

Which also happened to be Blizzard Gale's cloud house.

The pegasus in question waved a hoof at them. "Sorry I took so long!"

Jinx nodded. "Put the cloud over the crater! Quickly!" Another blast of orange electricity arced past the mare's horn, singeing her helmet.

Dutifully, Blizzard pushed her house over the impact area, then flew out of the way.

Spellbinder and his two fellows nodded to each other, each of their horns glowing with power as they readied their magic. As one, they shot three beams of clear green light at the cloud house. The thundercloud rumbled, the spell working its magic inside.

There was a blinding flash and an earsplitting _crack_ as a lightning bolt, pure white, zapped down from the cloud and into the crater, striking the middle of the black circle.

Twilight, Blizzard, and the rest of the Solar Mages were flung away by the shockwave, landing in the grass nearby, dazed. Spellbinder pulled himself up and rushed to Twilight's aid.

"Hey, Twilight! You okay?" he asked as he dusted her off.

"I'm fine, Spellbinder." She replied, trotting back to the crater. The black circle was still there, but no more lightning was shooting out.

Instead, the ground began to shake. Loose dirt fell into the center, but vaporized when it touched the circle. Black vapor began to rise from the dark disk, forming into something much, much taller.

Eyes of bright orange, rimmed with violet. Massive draconic wings, smoky but still somehow solid. And a dark, shadowy maw, dripping with noxious black gases.

"At lasssttt…" it hissed.

* * *

Spike tossed and turned in his little bed. He couldn't sleep, no matter what position he tried.

"Uhh. Maybe I need a snack." The baby dragon suggested.

Climbing out of bed, Spike walked over to the shelf where he knew Twilight kept a stash of gems. Wheeling over a stepladder, the dragonling was soon opening the box and fishing around for a gemstone. He little claws closed on an egg-shaped emerald.

Placing the box back where he had found it, Spike descended back to the library floor, wheeling the stepladder back to its original location. Surely Twilight would understand if he had just a little snack before going to bed?

As he went back to his bed, chewing on the emerald, Spike felt something tap him on the shoulder.

He turned around. "Hey Twilight, you're back early…_you're not Twili-"_

The baby dragon's view was full of blue sparks for an instant, then he saw no more.

* * *

Author's Notes

Grimm's plan begins, and Vex has made her move.

Thanks for reading, and leave a review?


	10. 9 The Next Move

9 The Next Move

* * *

Well, thank you to Waffleman2211 (I'm so sorry I misspelled your name), and bananadevourer8801 (It'll take some time getting used to calling you this rather than Ninjagirl01) for leaving your reviews. Wow. That was a short list of names.

Note-This chapter has been re-uploaded multiple times because when I select what chapter to put up, it kept linking to another, completely irrelevant one.

* * *

Twilight stared up at the vaporous specter that had risen out of the black hole, even as its awful burning gaze pinned them all to the spot. Its aura was menacing, dark, and reeked of things that were better left unknown. Spellbinder planted himself in front of Twilight, shielding her with his body.

The dark specter continued to watch them, solidifying as more vapor joined its body, each waft creating new details. Horns, claws, and a barbed tail soon followed, features that seemed all too familiar...

Then it opened its mouth, sucking in all the air around it, the wind howling as it was drawn into the gaping mouth. The inside was as black as pitch that had been smeared on obsidian.

It reminded Twilight and Blizzard gale of the inside of Talonbite's mouth, a possessed statue that had tried to kill them six months ago. If memory served, Talonbite had inhaled like that just before using…

The vapor demon's mouth lit up with orange light, illuminating rows upon rows of long, dagger like teeth.

"Get down!" Twilight screamed, diving to the grass and pulling Spellbinder and Jinx with her. Blizzard yanked the other stallion down, and not a moment too soon. The creature had, indeed, used a breath attack. A double helix of orange sparks raged over the five ponies' heads, pelting them with burning heat and unstable magic force. A boom echoed from Ponyville, and ponies started screaming. The creature shut off the destructive stream of energy, only to send a red disc of magic into the nearest building, slicing it cleanly in two. The occupants of the cottage shrieked and took cover as debris and chunks of wood rained down all around them, some of it on fire.

Spellbinder stood up. "Nopony, and I mean nopony, does something like that on _my _watch." He growled. The mage's horn lit up, sending a blaze of silvery unicorn magic at the creature.

"Oh. A class five shock spell," Jinx said. "This'll be good."

The spell had almost reached the creature's back, which was busy breathing more orange pulses at another house.

Then it turned, reached out a clawed hand, and caught Spellbinder's attack, condensing it into a ball and crushing it, the magic dissipating as the spell was broken. Then the violet rimmed eyes settled on the offender.

"Spellbinder! Look out!" Blizzard called as a shadowy wing scythed down, bisecting the earth next to the stallion. He leapt aside, rolling into the dirt in a most unprofessional manner.

"Okay," he said as he adjusted his helmet and scowled. "No more games."

* * *

Vex stared down at the five ponies that dared to stand before her. They had even had the audacity to attack her! Why, if it wasn't for Grimm and her great elaborate plans, she would have feasted on their souls right then and there, ripped them apart with her claws and painted the forest with their entrails.

Graygan had better be done with his part, because Vex was tiring of this activity fast, and needed to kill something, or she'd go insane.

Even more insane than she already was.

* * *

"Haven't got the best aim, have you?!" Jinx taunted as she sidestepped another blast of orange. "Trance! To your left!"

The rosy eyed Trance teleported himself out of the way just as a clawed arm came smashing down into the grass. The creature growled once more, slashing at them with its wings, but missing by a hair.

The five of them ducked and dodged, flirting with death every time the creature made a grab at them, or launched a spell at them. It was no longer focused on the town, but it couldn't last forever. Eventually, somepony was going to get tired, and then it would be over. None of their spells was affecting it in the slightest. Though they might hold the tactical advantage now, they couldn't keep it forever.

Trance pulled himself out of harm's way, putting a shield charm up between himself and the monster.

"Come on! We need to regroup-ahhh!" A burst of blue sparks had slammed into his shield, shattering it completely.

Twilight tensed up. Those sparks hadn't come from the creature in the crater…they had come from the forest, to the left. Surely there couldn't be a second one there…could there?

The vaporous demon abruptly froze on the spot, halfway into tossing another disc of dark energy. It gave them one more malevolent gaze, then folded its wings, lowered its arms, and dissolved into black gas, which dissipated into nothingness, leaving a ruined riverbank and a shaken up town in its wake.

Blizzard lifted herself out of the river, shaking off droplets of water. "What in the name of Celestia…" she began, but fainted before he was able to finish her question.

The three Solar Mages exchanged wary looks.

"Come on." Jinx said at last, pulling off her helmet. "Let's see how much damage it did."

"Aren't we going after it?" Spellbinder asked hotly. "We can't just let it do this! I'll track it down…"

Trance looked at the other stallion in agreement. "We cannot allow such a great threat to roam freely in Her Majesty's noble land. I'm with Spellbinder. We should follow it, and make it pay for what it did."

"Spellbinder, please!" the stallion turned to Twilight, who was carrying Blizzard on her back. "Jinx is right. We need to see what's going on in the town. Besides, I've already tried tracking it. It's masked itself, and we'll never find it with any kind of tracking spell."

"Not even the Spell of Unrivalled Seeking?" Trance challenged.

"Not even that. And its proper name is the Spell of _Unparalleled_ Seeking, as coined by Starswirl the Bearded." Twilight said.

Trance whistled. "Miss, you sure know your spellwork."

Spellbinder ran a hoof through his mane sheepishly. "Well, I guess if we can't track it, there's nothing to do but head back into town, see how we can help." He sighed.

Twilight gave the mage a quick hug before teleporting herself over the river.

Jinx gave Spellbinder a nudge. "She likes you."

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

Graygan's brown bag was feeling the same weight as usual, but then it _was_ made with Housetech, meaning that it was much bigger inside than out. The hooded being ran, sprinting through the forest silently with his prize to the rendezvous point.

A shadow darted from a nearby tree, solidifying into the thin form of Vex.

"Ahh. Grraygan. I trust your tasssk was successsssful?"

As she spoke, Vex dived into Graygan's shadow, hiding herself within and doubling their magical might. She could smell the being in Graygan's bag, and it smelled extremely tasty, if not a bit on the small side. Dessert maybe. The hooded being hefted the bag higher on his shoulder and slowed to a more leisurely pace, his clawed feet crunching on the dried leaves that lined the forest floor.

Perhaps the crunching was too loud. Perhaps in his relaxation, Graygan had forgotten to cast a muffling charm on himself. The hooded one slowed his walk, stood still, and turned around.

A full-grown adult hydra rose up from a hidden cave, all seven of its scaly orange heads sniffing at the unfamiliar scent of foreign magic. Its beady green eyes focused onto Graygan, who looked back up at the multi-headed beast with dull interest.

Then he shrugged, turned on his heel, and continued walking deeper into the forest.

There was a loud _swish_ as all seven heads swooped in for the kill, each cavernous mouth dripping with venom and saliva.

Graygan kept walking, but swung his left arm backwards, intercepting the hydra's foremost head and stopping it right there with an armored finger. The hydra looked up in surprise.

Blue sparks blazed from the point of contact.

And the hydra collapsed to the forest floor, motionless and drained of life.

Graygan sniffed and kept walking, dusting off his coat.

"Pathetic." He muttered.

* * *

Spellbinder and his partners parted ways with Twilight and Blizzard at the library, but not before the unicorn had offered to help them. While Spellbinder and Jinx had almost accepted, they were cut off by Trance.

"No." he had said flatly. "We can't let a civilian endanger herself, even if she is a skilled mage."

"Aw, come on, Trance," Jinx wheedled. "The town loos pretty shaken up, and Twilight here knows it better than any of us. She can help us around."

"No. We need to get all the civilians to safety, _including_ Miss Sparkle." He glared at the other two, as though daring them to argue. Finally, Jinx sighed.

"Fine." She said. "We'll go by the rules, no civilians involved. Happy now?"

"Not particularly." Trance grunted.

Spellbinder walked with Twilight and Blizzard up to the library door, pulling it open for them. Blizzard went straight for the bathroom, eager for a wash after falling into the river.

Before he shut it again, the silver-maned unicorn put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"Don't mind Trance. He's an awesome guy, just he feels like when he's on shift, he needs to act like a pro. After hours, he's great fun." Twilight nodded her assent, feeling that this wasn't all her old buddy had wanted to talk to her about. Sure enough…

"You were great out there tonight, Twilight." He added softly. "I didn't think I would see you again, but hey, I…um…" Spellbinder rubbed a hoof on the back of his helmet, his white coat turning pink around his ears and face. Twilight looked at her old schoolmate curiously.

"What I wanted to say was…well…" Spellbinder stood up straighter, and when he spoke again, it was in an authoritative, deep voice that didn't match his facial expression. "I wish to thank you for assisting the Royal Guard tonight. That is all."

And with that, Spellbinder pulled the door shut, the lock clicking into place. Twilight stared at the door for a few seconds. Had that really just happened? Well, maybe he was just a little shaken up after the fight, although the lavender pony couldn't help but feel a little morose. She had been so sure that Spellbinder had almost been about to…

The door swung open again, revealing a jumpy looking Spellbinder.

"What I wanted to say was…" he said in a strangled sounding voice. "Was…"

"What?" asked Twilight.

"Was…" he gulped, the blurted out. "Wantogogetlunchtomorrow?"

By now, he was looking absolutely flushed, and was fidgeting with a sleeve on his robe. Twilight, on the other hand, burst out laughing.

"What?" the stallion asked, looking slightly indignant that his request wasn't being taken seriously.

"It's nothing! Nothing; of course I'll have lunch with you tomorrow!" Twilight giggled, feeling very much like she was back in Princess Celestia's academy once again. "I'd love to!"

Spellbinder's expression softened, eventually until he was laughing nervously with his friend. "Well, thanks a lot, Twilight. I'll meet you here at noon?"

"Sure thing! I'll just-" Twilight was cut off by a shout from outside.

"Hey Spellbinder! If you don't get your flank out here now, Trance is going to _what was that, Trance? _Oh yeah, he's going to go on without you! So get out here now!" Jinx said through the door. "Or not…" she added as an undertone. Jinx had been watching her fellow mage all the way back to town, and could pretty much guess what was going on in there. Which had been confirmed by using a quick sound amplification spell.

"Okay Jinx! I'm coming!" before opening the door, the mage gave Twilight a nod and a smile. "See you tomorrow." He whispered just loud enough for them both to hear.

And with that, Spellbinder was gone.

Twilight watched them through an upstairs window, smiling to herself as she saw them go.

"Oh, Spellbinder." She muttered as she filled out that day's diary entry. "Still the same old you. Just like at the Hearth's Warming Eve dance."

Too happy to check on Blizzard or even on Spike, the unicorn dozed off, a carefree grin on her face.

* * *

Author's Notes.

What happens next?

...I can't even be bothered to think up a witty comment for the Author's Notes.

Well, a bit for your thoughts anyway.

And what happened to Spike?

Leave a review, if you enjoyed it, or not.


	11. 10 A Spike in the Plans

10 A Spike in the Plans

* * *

My thanks to Featherstone180 (Spellbinder, well, I just decided to mix things up a little there), bananadevourer8801 (Well, the Main Six will be here soon, and as for Spike, well, keep reading), and Waffleman2211 (Twilight x OC? I guess so. Maybe.) for leaving your reviews. It brightens up my day.

* * *

"Uuhhh…"

Spike's eyes slowly creaked open, then squeezed shut again as a needlepoint of pain shot through his head. He tried to open them again, this time succeeding. He was lying down on something soft, even softer than his regular bed. There was a ceiling, white and engraved from wall to wall with symbols that he had never seen before. The rest of the room was similarly stark, with only a thick-looking wooden door to the right, currently closed. There was a rune carved into that too.

Spike sat up, rubbing his head. As his leg shifted, it bumped against something smooth and hard. The baby dragon peered down at his feet, beholding a large bowl filled to the brim with dozens of twinkling emeralds, of various shape and size.

Spike pulled it into his lap, choosing a gem that was shaped vaguely like an onion and sniffing it. It smelled like any other emerald, to be sure. Spike scrutinized the stone from all angles, weighing it in his claws and holding it up to look at it closely. Despite his suspicions, the emerald seemed to be just that: an emerald. And a rather tasty-looking one too.

Spike raised the green gemstone to his mouth, stretching his forked tongue out uncertainly. He looked around the room once more, making sure there was nobody watching. He gave the emerald a tentative lick.

"Oh, _wow_!" Spike exclaimed, shoving the rest of the jewel into his mouth. Not only was it an emerald, it was the best tasting emerald he had ever eaten. Each facet seemed to leak with crunchy flavor, breaking under his dragon teeth and crumbling into shimmering bliss. Swallowing the last bits of gemstone, Spike reached into the bowl for a second helping.

"Man, this is _great!_" he said through stuffed cheeks. Not willing to devote any more energy to talking, the baby dragon focused his attention on the rest of the emeralds, twinkling and sparkling in their ceramic nest.

As Spike shoved handful after handful of gems into his gullet, he failed to notice the wooden door open soundlessly, nor did he see the hooded being standing in the doorway, bright blue sparks cascading from his polished metal gauntlets.

It was only when he felt the all-too familiar tap on the shoulder that the small purple dragon froze, halfway through scraping his claw along the bottom, picking up some loose fragments. Spike turned his head, swallowed the last mouthful, and dropped the bowl, which broke apart and melted into blue sparks.

"Ahh! Please don't hurt me! I'll tell you anything you want! Please, please, don't hurt me!" he bawled, kneeling at the hooded being's clawed feet.

The being in black stood there, peering at the prostrate dragon with its invisible face. Then it raised and arm over its head, and snapped its fingers, the metal gauntlets magnifying the sound.

A stream of sparks dribbled from the hooded being's fingers, condensing near Spike's tail. The magical outpour formed into a ball, but after a few seconds, the orb blew apart to reveal another bowl, this time filled to the brim with splendid sapphires and rubies.

Spike slowly looked up at the hooded being's head, back at the bowl, then back to the one in black again.

"F-for me?" he asked.

The being in black inclined its cowled face, as though saying yes.

"You're not…going to hurt me?"

A shake of the head this time.

"Well…uh…" stammered Spike. "Th-thanks, I guess."

The dark being bowed about two inches, then retreated out of the room, shutting the door behind it.

* * *

As Graygan exited the room, Vex erupted from his shadow, snarling.

"I thought we were here for a kidnapinnggg, not a _lodger._" She hissed angrily.

Graygan calmly strode over to a nearby armchair, sinking into it and activating the recline function. This particular armchair had been stolen as a trophy from their last jaunt to the human world. As far as chairs went, it was pretty comfortable. It more than made up for the fee he had paid to get the blood and brains cleaned off of it.

"Vex, you know that's not part of the plan. If Grimm finds out we deviated from the plan, she wouldn't be happy now, would she?"

"I ssssuppose not." Vex grudgingly admitted.

"Exactly. Now, it's only a matter of time before the rest of them come running. That should give us about a one week time window. Think Shroud can survive that long?"

"Of courrssse. Anything Grimm makes always perforrrms at peak standarrrds."

"Yes." Graygan confirmed. "They do." He leaned back even more. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to rest for a bit. Keep a watch on the dragonling for me, will you Vex? He's rather valued by the heroes here."

"Hmph. So what if the 'herrroes' of this realm come at us? They will fallll beforrre us like tinder to the blaze. "

"Vex," advised Graygan. "Just watch the dragonling. Wake me if we get any, shall we say, unwelcome visitors. I've got a thing or two in mind if anyone shows."

Graygan lay his hooded head back, becoming as still as a statue as Vex floated in the center of the room, eyeing the thick wooden door intensely. Yes. Soon the rest of those…_ponies_ would come running to get this dragonling back, and then they would have some real fun. And cheesecake, if they were considerate enough to bring that along too.

* * *

Twilight fell out of bed at exactly 7:30, thanks to her very accurate alarm clock. She had set it to go off like that every morning, but was now regretting that decision, partly because she had been having such a nice dream about a certain somepony, and partly because since she had gotten home so late last night, the young librarian had only gotten three hours' sleep.

She groggily peeked at Spike, half-considering waking up her assistant just so she wouldn't be the only one feeling dead tired today. To her surprise, the baby dragon's little bed was empty, the covers flung back as though he had just nipped out for a brief snack.

Twilight dragged herself to the bathroom. Once inside, she picked up a comb and started running it though her mane, smoothing out the kinks and tangles that somehow manage to sneak into every mare's mane in the night. Blizzard Gale must have showed herself out last night, because other than a damp towel, there was no sign of the pegasus. There was also a smear of blood on the towel, small and dark brown, but blood nonetheless. Twilight made a mental note to talk to her friend about that next time…speaking of which, wasn't there something she was supposed to do today?

"Mmph…let's see…" Twilight said as she squirted toothpaste onto her toothbrush. She had been talking with Blizzard last night, then the meteor had come down, and finally, she had fought off the monster in the crater with Spellbinder and his crew-

"Smpellbindr!" Twilight exclaimed through a mouthful of toothpaste and foam. After rinsing and wiping her mouth, Twilight went back into the library and began pulling books off the shelves; _Stallions 101_: _Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Him_, _Mealtime Conversation, _and _Dressing Presentably. _Then she shelved all three, realizing that she had a much better source of information on such topics.

Namely, a source known as Rarity.

* * *

"So let me get this straight, Twilight. You have just met up with an old schoolmate, whom you also happen to be having lunch with later today? How romantic!"

Twilight nodded as the white unicorn pranced around her, struck giddy by this opportunity to introduce Twilight to her social sphere of expertise.

"Oh, Twilight, darling, you simply must tell me about him. Is he tall and handsome? Does he have any friends he could introduce me to?"

"Well, his name's Spellbinder," explained Twilight. "And he was transferred to Manehattan University one year before I graduated. He's, well, a fun kind of guy, well, at least he _was, _and I'm not sure if he expects me to be like I was back at the academy, because I'm a lot different now, or-"

Rarity clapped a hoof across Twilight's mouth. "Stop rambling, dear, and just tell me the basics."

"Basics?"

"Yes, like what he looks like, what he likes to talk about, that sort of thing. I can't help you unless I know that." _And get myself a little bit of gossip for my trouble._ She thought.

"Okay." Twilight inhaled deeply. "Spellbinder is a Solar Mage, has blue eyes, a purple mane and tail, and…I don't know what else to say."

"You don't know what he likes to do for fun, or talk about?" Rarity asked incredulously.

Shaking her head, Twilight replied, "It's been years since we last spoke. He does dye his mane though. Silver."

"_Silver?_" Rarity said, blanching. "With his white coat?"

"Yeah. He was doing it even when we were at school together. I never did find out why, only that when Princess Celestia asked him, he said it was 'cool' or something."

"I see. Well, unless you can tell me more, I'd suggest starting on last night's events in the way of conversation. And who knows, maybe he'll start the dialogue, and you won't have to worry about a thing."

Rarity glanced at the clock on her wall. Plenty of time left until noon. "Now, Twilight, there's one more thing I need to do before I let you go…"

* * *

Spellbinder nervously approached the tree house. Looking at the sun, it was rapidly approaching noon, so he was right on time. Having spent most of the morning buffing and shining his armor pieces, Spellbinder was having trouble keeping his mind on the advice which Jinx had given him back at the hotel. Hotel. Only Trance would have rented three rooms at the local hotel rather than stay at the barracks.

_Alright, Spellbinder. Remember. If all else fails, just talk about last night's events. _

_But what if she doesn't want to talk about it? It _was_ a pretty scary night, after all._

_Okay, okay, like Jinx said, maybe I won't have to say anything, and Twilight will start the talk._

_Pfft. Sissy. You're supposed to be the _stallion_ here, remember?_

So wrapped up was the Solar Mage in his mental argument that he bumped into Twilight's front door head-first, his helmet giving a small gong-like ring when he recoiled.

The mage stepped back, struck a pose which he hoped looked impressive, and knocked on the door. Once, twice, thrice.

* * *

Twilight pushed the door open a bit, looking positively pleased but puzzled at the same time.

"Spellbinder?" she asked.

"Hi Twilight!" he said, not shifting from his position. Then he noticed her face. "What?"

"Umm…is there something wrong with the door?"

"No, not at all! It's a good door. Very solid." Spellbinder said, wondering what she was getting at.

"Then why are you looking like it was going to eat you?" Twilight teased, gesturing at her friend, who was standing at attention, but craning his neck back like there was a hornet in front of his nose.

Spellbinder quickly relaxed his poise, holding the door open courteously and shutting it for Twilight.

She was attired in a simple yellow dress that was trimmed with lace, not too fancy but definitely not casual wear either, and her mane and tail had been carefully groomed and trimmed.

"You look…amazing." Spellbinder said somewhat flatly, unsure of what else he was supposed to say. He would have to ask Jinx once they got back to the hotel.

"Aw, thanks!" Twilight beamed. "A friend of mine called Rarity helped me, so don't think I do this every day."

"Still, you look great!" Spellbinder said enthusiastically. "Smell great too. Cheesecake, isn't it?"

"Um lavender actually."

"Right."

"Well come on," beckoned Twilight. "Let's go. I can't _wait_ to hear about how you've been these last few years."

Inwardly facehoofing at the thought of having to start the conversation, Spellbinder grinned and followed Twilight into town.

* * *

As the pair set off for lunch, a fly buzzed into the library's open window, closing in on Spike's bed. As the insect neared the location, a bolt of energy shot out and vaporized the pest silently.

The cheesecake sat in the white cardboard box, undisturbed, waiting to be discovered by the right pony.

A letter was tied to the top, sealed in black wax, in the shape of a familiar, three-pronged face.

* * *

"Paladin takes Archfiend, first plane, G-97. Check."

Grimm leaned back, pleased at her use of the Paladin's inherent ability to negate the Archfiend's shield of darkness to check Faedran's first plane King.

The Gigas countered by teleporting the King to his nearest Wizard piece, out of the Paladin's attacking range.

Faedran flashed a grin at his opponent. "Not so easy, Grimm."

Grimm stared at her lexicon. Graygan and Vex were doing so well. Hopefully, they would be able to keep the dragonling until the next phase of her plan started.

"Nothing I do is easy, Faedran. But what I do is always worth it." She prodded a Lich piece to the appropriate position. "Checkmate. Your first plane King is dead."

* * *

Author's Notes

The chess match continues, and Faedran is losing.

Oh, and nopony seems to realize Spike's gone missing. They will soon though.

Leave a review, because things are about to get dangerous.


	12. 11 Ill Omen

11-Ill Omen

* * *

Special mention to Prince Nox (Well, it's great to have you back!), bananadevourer8801 (Guess who's back this chapter?), and waffleman2211 (Allow me to alleviate your suspense!) for leaving your reviews!

* * *

Grimm closed her lexicon with a _snap_, the black book's clasp securing itself automatically. She and Faedran were having a short break from their chess game to re-strategize, evaluate the positions of the pieces, and, oh yes, think about the current mission. That was important too, in the grand scheme of things.

"Faedran," the Officer asked politely as one of her shades served them some refreshments. "How do you think Graygan will deal with the eventual rescue party?"

The Gigas wolfed down a piece of sponge cake, the food dissolving into sparks on the way down. "Your guess is better than mine, Grimm. You have known Graygan much longer than I have."

"Yes, that is true." Grimm's mask was as plain and unemotional as ever, but the violet lights behind the veneer were darting back and forth, glowing intensely. "As it were, Graygan would most likely try a method with would not involve him directly. That is my guess."

Faedran looked up from his cup of tea. "Not involve himself directly? Hum, that's rather contrasting to his first mission with Vex. The memory records of that event were most amusing and inspiring to watch."

The tall, masked Officer nodded once. "I suppose, but unlike that mission, this one requires tact and subterfuge for it to succeed. I'm sure you understand."

As the shade poured more tea for the superior Gigas, Grimm held up a hollow glove and motioned for her servant to come closer. She passed to it a thick brown envelope, complete with binding spells to make sure it could not be opened by anyone other than the rightful addressee.

"Take this to Nightfall." Grimm commanded. "It's imperative that she reads this at the opportune time." She leaned closer and whispered, "Make sure she receives it at about, say, three hours after sundown tonight. No sooner."

The shade bowed its triangular, single eyed head, and melted through the gazebo floor, taking the letter with it. A second shade materialized to continue its peer's work as the butler. As soon the refreshments were all gone, both operatives returned to their game. Grimm waited for Faedran to make his move, opening her lexicon to pass the time and monitor her subordinates in Equestria.

"Now, where were we?"

* * *

_The Alicorn's Feather_ was a restaurant near the center of Ponyville, started by a pony called Good Taste a few years back. Originally just a diner that sold dinners at late hours, _The Alicorn's Feather_ had expanded over the years with good business, eventually turning into the somewhat more refined eatery that it was today.

Twilight Sparkle and Spellbinder were seated under a large, striped umbrella outside the main establishment, seeing as it was a nice day out. After ordering a three-course lunch and dessert, the pair of them settled into an uncomfortable silence, both parties waiting for the other to speak.

"Er, nice weather today," Spellbinder said awkwardly. He took a bite out of his lettuce casserole.

"Yep." Twilight agreed.

Neither of them could quite believe this. Last night, they had been speaking like they had never parted. But now…silence city. Awk-ward.

Finally, Twilight decided to try Rarity's advice.

"So, last night-"

She stopped, because Spellbinder had just said "Last night, what-"

The unicorns blushed simultaneously. "You first." Spellbinder offered, tilting his head to her respectfully.

"No, you go first."

"Ladies first. I insist." The Solar Mage smiled and took another bite of his casserole, washing it down with some chilled dandelion wine. He'd done it. He wasn't going to be the one starting the conversation after all! He chewed quietly as his old classmate began to talk.

"Okay. So, how bad was the damage to Ponyville? How much do you think it'll cost to fix it?"

"Uh, well, funny you should mention that." Twilight levitated a piece of celery to her mouth while she listened. "We…um…managed to fix it all last night. It was actually really weird."

"Nothing was too badly damaged? That was really…considerate of that thing last night."

"Yeah. I mean, even the buildings it damaged were really simple to fix, no broken furniture, no nothing. I mean, there are dozens of water storage tanks, barns, hay bales, and other things it _could_ have hit that would have had much worse consequences, but…it didn't. Just as if it was messing with us."

Twilight was beginning to grow uneasy. A creature that had never been seen by ponykind crashes into Equestria in a bright yellow meteor, causes minimal damage, then vanishes? They were missing something here, she was sure of it.

"What about the area of impact?" Twilight asked after a sip of wine. "Did you clear that up too?"

Spellbinder looked troubled. "That's the weirdest part of all, actually." He had removed his helmet to eat, which now allowed him to nervously rub a hoof through his dyed silver mane. "When Trance, Jinx, and me went there this morning, there was nothing but grass. Smooth grass, like nothing had ever hit it. Jinx thought we were in the wrong area, but there was no other place that looked like it."

"You're right," Twilight said pensively. "That is weird."

They ate in silence for a while, letting the sounds of ponies going about their everyday business envelop them. It was such a peaceful setting, in complete contrast to the chaotic events of last night. Finally, Spellbinder spoke up.

"Hey Twilight, your friend, that pegasus. Is she okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. She's fine." Twilight replied reluctantly, thinking back to the bloody towel that she had seen that morning.

Spellbinder looked into Twilight's eyes, his twin blue orbs reflecting her face. "Well, that's good. She fainted after the shadow monster disappeared, so I was just wondering if she was okay."

"Well, I think she's fine," Twilight lied. Blizzard Gale was, to her, not fine. But Spellbinder didn't need to know that. "Just a little shaken up. Anyway, you never did tell me why you were in Ponyville." She deftly changed the topic.

Spellbinder, to her surprise, sighed and took a gulp of wine before he told her, "The shadow monster. It came down in a meteor, remember? Well, two nights ago, Princess Luna came to the court and told us about a weird star that appeared above Canterlot. She said it was bright yellow, and was shooting some kind of energy signal at Ponyville." The Solar Mage looked grimly at his meal, sipping from his wine to refresh his throat. "So yesterday afternoon, both Princesses decided to send a small group of guard to go to Ponyville and investigate. We arrived just in time to see the meteor strike. Good thing too." He added. "Who know what might have happened if that thing got loose."

"Speaking of the shadow thing, nopony was injured, were they?"

"Other than psychological trauma, there wasn't any other injury done. I don't know, Twilight. Something's not right here." The stallion looked into his drink. "You think…nah."

"What?" Twilight asked. A waiter came by and took the remains of their meals, depositing two plates of pudding in their places.

"It's a silly idea, really. But I was just thinking, what if Discord somehow came back and teamed up with the Changeling queen or something? You think they could pull this off?" Spellbinder's ears turned pink. "Just shooting in the dark here."

It took all of three seconds to for Twilight to understand that he was joking. She reached across the table and bopped Spellbinder on the nose. "You silly pony, this is serious!" She admonished with a smile. He smiled back, rubbing his nose.

Twilight found herself gazing into her old schoolmate's eyes. They were so blue, so clear. It was hard to believe, but she found those eyes somehow very comforting. Almost like…

* * *

"Twilight! _Twilight!"_

The two ponies jerked apart, both trying to figure out where the shouting was coming from. They didn't have to look far.

Rainbow Dash was bolting toward _The Alicorn's Feather_, looking absolutely terrified, with Fluttershy in tow. The meek yellow pegasus was literally holding on to Rainbow's tail. The pair collapsed, panting, in front of Twilight's table, drawing a few odd looks from their fellow customers.

"Twi…light…box…letter…" the cyan pegasus panted, her eyes rolling in their sockets. She held up a plain white envelope. It had been opened, but the paper still bore the seal of black wax. It had the all-too familiar three pronged face on it. Twilight's blood ran cold just looking at it. It was the same mark that had been on the top of the cheesecake box she had found six months back. The unicorn tried to levitate the letter out of the envelope. It resisted her magic.

"Twilight? What's wrong?" Spellbinder asked, helping the two pegasi up.

The lavender pony didn't answer. She was too busy reading the letter. It was short but grim.

_Dear Miss Sparkle,_

_We regret to inform you that as of last night, we have taken possession of your assistant, one dragonling by the name of Spike. We are fully prepared to look after him for the rest of his life, unless you can convince us otherwise. Although, I doubt you can. After all, if you can't even guard your own assistant, what kind of a caretaker are you? We will meet you in the Everfree Forest._

_Cheers,_

_G._

Fluttershy sidled up to the unicorn and presented her with a white cardboard box. "Um. This was in S-Spike's bed when we came to visit…"

Inside the box was a freshly baked cheesecake with a folded card on top. Engraved in gold leaf, were the words: 'Come and get him'.

Spellbinder had been reading everything silently, and had just about surmised what had happened.

"Last night." He said darkly. "It was a diversion. No wonder that shadow went away without finishing us. Their real goal…was Spike."

The stallion put on his helmet, the golden metal crown slipping onto his head perfectly. "I'm going to get Trance and Jinx. Meet us at the bridge as soon as possible. We're not letting them get away with this."

* * *

Dusk was falling by the time Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie met up with the Solar Mages at the bridge. Blizzard Gale was nowhere to be seen, but at the moment, everypony was much more concerned for Spike than they were for their missing pegasus friend.

Trance briefed the group. The mage wasn't happy with this. Not only was he endangering a civilian's life, he was endangering six! But as soon as Jinx informed him of who Twilight and her friends really were, he changed his tune. After all, one did not slight the Princess's protégé.

"Alright." He announced. "I trust you all know why you're here."

Pinkie Pie munched on the cheesecake and raised a hoof. "Ooh! Is it because Spike's been dragon-napped by some evil monsters who could easily beat us, but we're going to rescue him anyway because that's just what we do?" she offered in one, long sentence.

Trance coughed. "More or less."

"Well, what're we waitin' for?" Applejack snapped. "Nobody touches Spike an' gits away with it!"

"I agree! I need to make sure my Spikey-wikey is safe and sound!" Rarity agreed fervently.

"Alright!" Jinx roared. "There are five unicorns here. We should split up into groups of two and three, with at one unicorn per group. I'll teach you a simple spell to help us stay in touch. There are things in that forest that could do us in before we recover Spike, and we _will not let that happen!" _she finished at the top of her lungs.

So they split up, Trance and Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Jinx, Rarity and Fluttershy, and Pinkie, Twilight, and Spellbinder.

As the nine ponies crept into the oppressive darkness that was the Everfree Forest, it began to rain. Lightly at first, then growing into a full-fledged thunderstorm.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Sirmyurin reported to Storm Castle at precisely three hours after sundown for his counseling session. It was raining buckets, as usual.

The alicorn was frankly getting sick of this. He had been told the sessions would only be for four months. Now here he was, at the end of the sixth month, and Nightfall still showed no signs of letting him go.

He used a spell to dry himself off and walked toward the library, his hooves clicking on the marble floor.

Nightfall was sitting in her favorite armchair, as usual. Before her was her lexicon, a goblet of wine or blood (It was hard to tell which), and a few progress reports. Bookshelves lined the walls, each volume black as night. It was said that the book which you needed would color itself when you asked for it. Sirmyurin had never tried it himself.

The alicorn's yellow cat eyes drooped as he sat on a pile of cushions. The vampire had insisted that every session be as friendly and informal as possible. This meant he was able to refer to her by surname only, and could sit wherever he liked.

He hated it. He hated every moment of false friendliness, every minute of Nightfall trying to convince him to forget about his friends in Equestria. He hated the dark, gothic atmosphere, and he hated that he could not go back and see them, his real friends. Not the mocking lookalike that everyone else seemed to be.

"Good evening, Nightfall." Sirmyurin droned, as though just reading from a very boring script. He waited for her to say 'good evening, Sirmyurin' which would signal the start of two very agonizing hours of counseling.

But she did not speak the words. Rather what she _did_ say was "Just a moment, I'll be right with you.".

The snowy white alicorn looked up in surprise. Nightfall was, instead of looking patronizingly at him, reading a letter.

"Hmm..." she said to herself. "That's some good news right there. Oh, how cunning."

After two minutes of reading, the vampire stood up, her midnight-blue hair fanning out behind her. She stared at her patient with blood-red eyes.

"Terribly sorry, Sirmyurin, but I have an urgent appointment I must get to. You're free for this entire week."

"This week?" the alicorn asked disbelievingly. "What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Now, I must be going. See you next week."

And with that, the vampire extended her wings, pushed open the study window, and launched herself out into the storm.

Sirmyurin's eyes strayed to Nightfall's desk. She had left the letter on top of her papers. Warily making his way over, he began to read.

It was long and detailed, and Sirmyurin did not understand some of the terminology, but the words 'Graygan', 'Vex', 'Destroy', 'Soul', 'Celestia', and 'By any means necessary' in the same paragraph spoke volumes.

He didn't even need to think whether it was the right thing to do. The alicorn conjured a swirling yellow portal and ran into it.

There was a plot to be stopped.

* * *

Author's Notes

We are now getting close to a confrontation.

And will Sirmyurin make it on time? (If you don't know who he is see my other story)

Anyhow, leave a review.


	13. 12 Plans within Plans

12 Plans within Plans

Sorry for the delay. I caught a cold and lost my motivation for a few days. Anyhow, Thanks to Prince Nox (Everfree chapter coming up!), and Chrnokeeper (So nice to have you back on board!) for reviewing.

* * *

Grimm watched Sirmyurin gallop off to his destination in her lexicon. The alicorn seemed as anxious as a Black Jester that had forgotten the Killer Joke. And that was very serious.

Nightfall sat at the gazebo at the highest tower of Grimm's citadel, watching the chess match with great interest. Faedran's pieces numbered more than Grimm's, but the officer made up for her losses with strategic planning and extensive use of special abilities.

"So, the alicorn has gone." Faedran said after resurrecting a squad of pawns with his forth plane Wizard. "Doesn't that concern you, Grimm?"

"Not in the slightest." Grimm stated coolly as she surveyed the five stacked boards.

Nightfall smiled nastily, exposing her fangs in the lamplight. The sun was down, but the citadel was lit up by bright yellow orbs that levitated at the best angles, casting the maximum amount of light possible. "Ah, yes. The enchanted letter was most refreshing. I enjoyed the hidden message especially."

"And he fell for it, hook, line, and sinker, to use a human expression." Grimm smirked. She, Nightfall, and Faedran shared a laugh together as a shade served more refreshments; a pitcher of fresh blood, tea and cakes, and powdered soul shards.

Nightfall surveyed her own lexicon as the rune on the cover glowed, alerting her to something important. She flicked the book open. She grinned.

"There's been a theft at the armory. A unique experiment has been taken, and the thief's target location…"

"Equestria?" Faedran guessed as he examined his teacup.

"I thought as much. The Gatekeeper will stop him." Grimm mused, moving her fifth plane King behind a Caster piece. "Your move."

* * *

Spike lay on his side in the white room, trying to sleep. He rolled onto his other side; it didn't help. The baby dragon was frankly feeling extremely bored. He had been stuck here for about a day, if his internal clock was to be trusted. In that time, he had eaten more than four large bowls of gems. Every few hours, the door would open and the hooded figure would come in and conjure another bowlful for him.

He had tried to talk, to strike up some conversation, but the hooded one never replied verbally, only with gestures. Spike had a feeling that it _could_ speak, but didn't want to, for some reason. Well, that was just fine. He didn't want to talk anyway. Right now, the baby dragon was feeling ill. Maybe it was all the sapphires…he never had digested those too well. Now he realized just why Twilight kept those locked up in a special cabinet.

"Uhhh…I think I'm gonna hurl…" he groaned, dragging the now-empty bowl over, just in case he _did _lose his lunch.

Spike retched a few times, each one more violent than the last, then finally, let it all out with an almighty belch. His vision filled with white, Spike could only rock back and forth as his stomach and brain resynchronized.

Spike apprehensively looked into the still-rocking bowl, expecting a soup of gastric juices, gem shards, and other nasty things to be slopping at the bottom.

What he saw instead, was a letter. A letter sealed with a red wax stamp in the shape of the letter 'C'.

In other words, a letter from Princess Celestia.

The scroll rolled gently at the bottom of the bowl, still smoldering from its recent delivery. Spike picked it up. His first instinct was to give it to Twilight to read, but she wasn't here, wherever _here_ actually was. So with no other options, Spike dug a claw under the seal and broke it. Unrolling the letter, he began to read.

_My faithful student Twilight,_

_I hope I am not intruding on your day, but an anomaly has come up in Canterlot that none of my mages or scientists is able to solve. There seems to be some sort of epidemic spreading through a certain district, and I was wondering if you could possibly do some research for us. The symptoms are alike to those of the common cold, only after roughly six hours, the patient falls into a deep, deep sleep, of which nopony seems to awaken from. So far, only a hoof-full of ponies has contracted this, but we do not know how it is spread, or what the long-term effects are. We even brought in a doctor from Manehattan, but even she has had little success. Perhaps your friends in Ponyville might know something?_

_Yours faithfully, _

_Princess Celestia_

Spike scanned the letter again. An epidemic? Wasn't that a fancy word for sickness? And the Princess needed Twilight's help to cure it? This was serious; he had to get this letter to her right away!

Spike jumped off the bed, scampered over to the thick wooden door and began pushing and pulling at it, even breathing fire at it, but to no avail. Whatever kind of wood this door was made of, it wasn't flammable. An unusual quality in wood.

Spike hammered at the door for hours, yelling and screaming his little lungs out. But no matter how hard he attacked the door, or how loudly he protested, the portal remained the same.

Firmly and stalwartly shut.

* * *

Graygan was aware of Vex shaking him awake. The hooded being swung himself out of the armchair and stood up, summoning his lexicon at the same time.

"Grrraygan, the perimeter has beeeen breached." Vex slurred. "Also, the dragonliiing has received a messssage from the tarrrget. Apparently, there is a plague sprrrreadingggg in theirrr capital."

Graygan conjured up a teapot and two cups. Setting the pot to boil, he asked, "A plague? Surely it's not _that _serious."

"No, but if alllll goes well, we might be able to leave here…earrrly. I'm hungry," Vex added. "Need a soul…"

The hooded operative sighed. Sometimes, keeping a soul-eating companion could be quite troublesome. "Vex, as soon as we get back, we'll visit the Void Nexus and you can pick out as many souls as you like. But for now, until Shroud gets into position, we have to hold out here, got it?"

He stared into his lexicon, which had mapped out the forest for them. It displayed four groups of ponies spreading out in the woods, each group radiating a slight magical aura.

"Hmm. So they actually came. I can't say I'm surprised." Graygan opened a small yellow portal and spoke into it. "Faedran, you there? What can you tell me about the search party?"

The Gigas' voice resonated from the portal. "Of course I can. They comprise of nine _ponies,"_ the word rolled out of Faedran's toothy mouth like a bad taste. "five of which have magical ability. They have taken to searching for you by spreading out in a fan formation. The group on the left will make contact with your hideout in roughly seventeen of their minutes, if they continue at their current pace. Does that cover everything?"

"Just about. Tell me, about how many more days do we need to hold their attention?"

* * *

Faedran withdrew his fanged face from the portal and looked at Grimm. Without looking up from her lexicon, the officer said in a bored fashion, "At least three more days."

* * *

"Three days." Confirmed the Gigas.

Vex snarled. "This betterrr be worrrth it." She hissed before Graygan closed the portal. "And we're not even allowwwed to killll any of them. Why even brrring me along?"

Vex's violet-rimmed eyes narrowed as she sank back into Graygan's shadow. This was turning out to be most unsatisfactory. First they were turning a kidnapping into a guest invitation, and now they were acting as _bait_? What she wouldn't give just to be able to rip them all to shreds…

If Graygan knew what she was thinking, he didn't mention it, rather opting to pull a thin, transparent tube from his right coat sleeve, stopped with a cork. It was three-fourths full of red liquid. It bubbled as the hooded being held it up to the ceiling lamp and examined it.

"This'll scare them off." He muttered as he went to the front door, pulled it open, and threw the vial out into the woods. Graygan then smartly closed the door again, not waiting to hear where it had landed. Then he sat back down and poured out two cups of tea for the wait.

Outside, there was a tinkle of broken glass, a sound like soup boiling over, and a low, primal growl.

* * *

"So, you worked in Canterlot for the past few months?"

"Yeah."

"Do you play any sports?"

"No."

"You like to read?"

"Sometimes."

Rainbow Dash had been pelting Trance with questions from the moment they had set off. And who could blame her? Trance was one of the first Royal Guard she had met who actually talked. Okay, he didn't talk much, but at least he acknowledged her presence. Now all she had to do was find something they both had in common. Besides both being soaked by the rain.

"Do you like Daring Do books?" the pegasus asked, hovering next to the mage.

Trance spared her eight seconds before returning his sweeping gaze to the surrounding forest. "Daring Do? Can't say I've heard of that author."

Rainbow Dash's upper lip slipped over her bottom one, giving Trance what could be called an old-fashioned look. It was practically Prehistoric.

"You've never heard of Daring Do?" she spluttered. "But it's only the most _awesome_ book series in Equestria! What do you _do_ in your spare time, if you don't play sports, or read Daring Do?"

Trance rolled his magenta eyes. "I practice my magic, go out for walks, or read something that I actually know about. Are we done?"

Rainbow stared at Trance in discontent before nodding. Under her breath, she said, "Guess you've never heard of the Wonderbolts either."

Trance walked on ahead, casting a spell of Detect Life around them. Finding nothing in the surrounding area but a few rabbits and insects, the unicorn turned back to his sullen companion. "Wonderbolts?" he asked. "Are you kidding? I go watch their practices in Canterlot whenever they're in town. They're only-"

"The best flyers in Equestria!" Rainbow Dash finished for him.

"Well, I was going to say 'they're only in Canterlot for a few weeks a year', but yeah, they _are_ the best flyers in Equestria. You're a fan?"

"Their number one fan." Dash said proudly.

"Oh yeah?" Trance said mildly as he scanned the area for any tracks that might lead them on the right path. "Then what was Soarin's best crowning achievement for his career?"

"Breaking the airspeed record _and_ the altitude record at the same time during the Summer Cloudsdale Marathon three years ago!" Rainbow recited. She smirked. Somehow, her snide comment had unlocked a whole new side to the normally professional Trance. Maybe, just maybe, this was someone she could talk to about her heroes?

"Oh yeah, well then what is Spitfire's favorite drink?" Trance shot back, a goofy grin on his face, the rain forgotten.

"Peregrine Punch, as written in the Wonderbolts interview last month!"

"Fleetfoot's most recent win was-"

"Last year at the Canterlot Derby!"

Trance and Rainbow Dash were smiling from ear to ear. The mage had forgotten all about acting like a pro, and Rainbow Dash was loving it. Nobody could resist her.

There was a squelch from ahead of them. Trance stopped in his tracks and looked down. He held up a hoof for silence. Or rather, he tried to hold up a hoof, but all four of his were stuck in some sticky kind of red growth that had spread itself out over the forest floor.

"Gross." Trance muttered, loosening his hooves with a blast of magic. He brought a smear of it up to his nose and sniffed it. "What is this?" he took another sniff. "Smells…coppery."

The Solar Mage rotated his head to look at Rainbow Dash. "What do you think? Rainbow Dash?"

The pegasus didn't answer. Her face was frozen in terror, eyes glued to something behind the mage. Something that was making its way through the trees toward the pair of ponies.

As it strode into the gloom, rainwater rushing off its back gently, Trance took his stance in front of his partner protectively, as he had been taught in the guard academy. It looked like a timber wolf, but timber wolves weren't bright red, and their skin didn't bubble like a vat of overheated rainbow. More importantly, no creature in Equestrian science had bleeding sockets where its eyes should have been. Blood gushed from the holes, melding with the rest of its body. Then with a shock, they realized that the red _was its blood._ Somehow, by some dark power, the creature was essentially a blood-covered wolf. At least that explained the coppery smell.

Trance and Rainbow Dash stood perfectly still. The bloodwolf lumbered closer, rainwater gleaming off its deformed body. Its sightless face swiveled around, trying to find something, anything.

Then Rainbow Dash took a step back, and there was a _crunch._

The abomination's sanguineous face turned, and it walked even closer. It didn't walk like a wolf. When it moved, the rearmost leg was absorbed by the body, and a new leg grew out the front. All the while it dripped red everywhere, and gave off a stink of something that had been dead for days.

"On the count of three, run." Breathed Trance, his rosy-red eyes glued to the monster. "I'll try to stall it, find out how to stop it."

"R-run?" Rainbow quavered. "What about you?"

"I'll…I'll figure something out. Don't stop for anything. Just get to another group. Fast. You can do fast, right?"

"Y-yeah. I can, but I don't know where anypony is!"

Trance looked into her eyes, rosy-red meeting magenta. He was so calm. "I'll cast a spell to show you the way, okay," he whispered. "you can do this. Just fly."

The bloodwolf stalked even closer. They could hear the pops of air bubble bursting on its surface. Trance's horn lit up, and a magical fishing line shot out into the forest, pointing just to their left. The bloodwolf's ears swiveled over.

Then it pounced, and everything happened at once.

Rainbow Dash knew Trance was yelling something, but by that time, she was flying too fast to hear anything but her own heartbeat and the whirring of her wings. She didn't even know how she was flying, she had no memory of taking off. The cyan pony looked at her hooves. There was rosy light around them. Trance must have spirited her out of there with his magic.

Behind her, there was a yell and blasts of magic. Then the air shook, and Rainbow Dash couldn't hear anything else.

* * *

Author's Notes

And it was all going so well.


	14. 13 Symptoms and Complications

13 Symptoms and Complications

* * *

Thanks to Prince Nox (I'm no master, but I thank you for the compliment!), and Chrokeeper (It _is_ a horrible creature) for leaving your reviews.

...where did everyone else go?

* * *

"I've never liked the use of limits." Nightfall said as Grimm transferred a knight from the fifth plane to the third. "They interfere with efficiency."

She drank delicately from her wineglass, the crystal goblet carved with bats and wolves, all locked in battle. A relic from another vampire's castle. Another vampire who was now a pile of dust.

"Oh, I suppose that's true," Grimm agreed. "But I have my reasons."

"A reason better than getting the task done well?"

"Yes. And if you will give me time, I will tell you."

This last statement was Grimm's idea of a joke. They both had an infinite amount of time, their contracts saw to that. It was just another way of saying 'not now'.

The officer relented after a while, her blank mask facing the Court member's pale, thin face. "Limits do hamper an operative's ability to perform at the peak of their power, that is true. But take it like this." Grimm took her staff in her gloved, hollow hands, twirling it absently back and forth. "You rarely leave this place to go to the outer realms, so perhaps you've never thought of this, but: When you can do anything, and everything, then missions become ridiculously easy. There is no challenge to obliterating an entire nation with a single spell. There is no enjoyment, no _satisfaction_ to be had in simply appearing behind the target and taking its soul. Any novice could do it, with enough magical power. Many do, in fact."

Grimm paused to move a piece. She continued, "Nightfall, the reason I impose limits on those who work for me is to ensure they do not grow lazy and complacent. When one is forced to think about a plan before executing it, it becomes more real, more satisfying. Blasting away a well-defended structure offers a more rewarding feeling than destroying a shack that has not been spellproofed. It's what makes us what we are, what keeps us from descending into dull boredom."

The vampire looked at the officer with slight awe. This was Grimm talking. "I had no idea you thought about it that way."

Grimm cackled wickedly. "Plus, it's great fun for me to watch. Plotting the way that will cause the most chaos and still get the job done has, and always will be a hobby of mine."

"Ah." Nightfall nodded. That was more in character.

* * *

Spike panted on his little bed. He had been throwing everything he had and more against the door, but all it had gotten him was a terrible thirst and sore, cracked claws. The wood even resisted being _scratched, _for Celestia's sake! The little dragon had slowly come to the revelation that he was a prisoner. A comfortable and well-fed prisoner, but a prisoner anyway.

Now he wanted to know why. Was this black, hooded creature an agent of Discord? He doubted it. Somehow, Spike felt that the Avatar of Chaos wouldn't need any assistants.

He must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew, Spike's leg was tapping against another bowl of gems. Onyx and jet this time. He loved jet, but just as he was about to chow down, he realized the hooded one was still in the room, conjuring up another bowl. This one was full of water.

"Um, hey," Spike said. "I don't know if you can understand me, but…"

The cowled face looked at him.

Spike quailed, but pressed on. "I…I've been having a great time here, but I need to…use the bathroom!" he made up on the spot. "So, like, I need to go outside!"

The figure in black raised a gauntleted hand and snapped its armored fingers. A fully functional bathroom, curtains included, materialized in the corner of the white room.

Spike paused, then stomped over to the sink. "Fine…" he muttered, disappointed that his plan had failed.

The hooded one was walking away, opening the door. Now would be a great time to escape, but every time, the being in black walked out backwards, making sure he didn't make a move for the door.

This time was no different. The door swung shut, guided carefully by an armored hand, the catch almost going into the frame…

* * *

"Grrraygan! Get out here now!"

The hooded one let go of the doorknob, slamming the door. Well, almost slamming it. The door rebounded off the frame and stayed open a crack.

Spike scampered over and peeked out. The rest of the place, at least what he could see, looked like a very white living room, with bookcases, pictures on the walls, and a sizeable recliner dominating the floor. Glowing orbs of light provided illumination.

The being in black's shadow moved. Suddenly, to Spike's horror, a huge, dark monster burst out with a quiet _whoomph_. Its violet-rimmed orange eyes flickered with malice.

"Welll?" the shadow beast seemed to say, its voice quiet and cutting, like an unbelievably sharp knife.

The hooded being's hand drummed on the recliner's armrest. "We _are _in trouble." It said. Its voice sounded male, and was more natural sounding than the shadow monster's, albeit just a silky.

"Trrouble? What for? We did not killl that ponyyyy, the blood fiennnd did."

"Yes, Vex, but _I_ summoned it. By the rules, that counts as me killing that pony."

The creature, which Spike guessed was called Vex, extended its giant, feathery wings. "Psssh. We do not know if it issss dead."

The hooded one holding up a black book, small but radiating magic. It projected a three-dimensional image into the air. It was a picture of a male pony, lying on his side. There was blood all around it, and the poor stallion's rosy-red eyes were fluttering weakly as he tried to draw breath. The projection rotated slowly, and the hooded figure looked closely, seemingly agitated about this.

"That looks dead to me." The being in black said grimly.

"Merrrely a fictional image dreammmed up by the lexxxicon. It'sss not as if you went out and seeearched the area yourself." Vex reassured.

"I did. There was nothing left but a horseshoe."

"Therre we go," the shadow creature chimed. "He might be alive afffter all. No neeeed to worry ,Graygan."

_So the one in black is called Graygan?_ Thought Spike. He continued eavesdropping, storing the information like only a librarian's assistant knew how.

"I'm afraid there is, Vex. There was still of hoof in the horseshoe. And to make matters worse, the blood fiend has seemingly vanished."

Vex didn't say anything for a while. Then, "Hmm…the blood fiend…it has a mind offff its ownnnn, yes?"

"I suppose it does. I never checked."

"Then it issss not your fault. The lexicon said no unavvvvoidable deaths. This was not unavvvvoidable."

"Vex, it says no _unnecessary _killing-"

"Shh."

Spike silently pulled the door shut, his eyes wide with horror and shock. Somepony was dead, and these two had caused it. There was no way he was going to be able to escape on his own. Vex was the dangerous one. It was a psycho. He could clearly see that, but somehow, Spike knew that Graygan was just as deadly. Spike went to the new bathroom and pulled the curtains around him.

He wished Twilight would come and save him, like she had saved him from the dragon. But is she came, it was almost certain she would…_die._ And the baby dragon would never be able to live with that.

Curling up tight and trying not to cry, Spike drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Doctor Red Cross trotted nervously from bed to bed in the Canterlot Equestrian Hospital, or CEH. She was a mare with glasses, a fiery red mane and tail, white coat, and had, predictably, a simple red cross on her flank, overlaid with a circle. Her stethoscope jangling against her front as she walked, the doctor paced around, checking on the patients.

Taking a pen from the front of her lab coat, the doctor filled in her hourly report.

_-No improvements in any of the patients._

_-Coma appears to be permanent, and no medication is having any effect, implying that this disease is of magical origin. _

_-Suggest bringing in royal mages at next meeting with Princess._

She closed her file and slipped it into her saddlebag. Red Cross sighed, her brow a rictus of worry. This was out of her league. Regular, everyday diseases she could deal with. But what was a doctor to do when there was basically nothing wrong with the patient, except that they wouldn't wake up? Sure, it started as a cold, but after a few coughs and sniffles, they went away, only to turn up unconscious a few hours later! It was uncanny!

It was spreading too, the doctor noted grimly. Yesterday, there had only been six cases. Today, there were twenty-one. If they couldn't find a cure soon, quarantine would be needed.

"I need a cup of coffee." Red Cross said as she walked out into the sunshine, toward the palace to deliver her report. It wasn't a terrible distance, only five minutes' walk. Normally a pegasus would ferry the report up, but her messenger was out getting more medical swabs.

It was, by all standards, a beautiful day in the capital of Equestria. Birds were chirruping their songs, and ponies of all ages cantered to and fro, brightly going about their business. Stopping by Pony Joe's to get a cappuccino and a bagel, the doctor soon arrived in the foyer of Canterlot Castle.

Canterlot Castle. What a fortress! A massive portcullis to keep out intruders and troublemakers (not that there were ever any), and a moat to boot. There were also a huge number of guards, all ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. It was unlikely any of them had seen much actual combat, but their presence was reassuring just the same.

The doors to the throne room were open, but there was another pony, an aristocrat by the look of him, already talking to the Sun Princess. He seemed agitated, and here and there, he coughed and sneezed, muffling it with a handkerchief.

The doctor frowned. It wasn't being spread pony to pony by conventional means, at least not from what they had seen, so the Princess and her guards were safe. In direct counter to that fact, nopony knew just how it _was_ being spread. None of the patients reported eating anything similar when questioned, and they lived in fairly diverse areas of the city.

A medical mystery, it was. She drank her coffee and ate her bagel while she thought. Soon, she was done eating, but the Princess was still busy.

Red Cross cleaned her glasses as she waited. Then she heard it.

"Psst."

The mare looked behind her. There was a guard waving to her, his armor gleaming in the sunlight streaming in through the window.

"Psst. Doctor. Over here!" he shout-whispered.

Red Cross trotted over, adjusting her lab coat. "Yes?" she asked.

The guard looked around warily. "Not here," he whispered conspiringly. "Too many ponies."

The doctor stayed where she was. "I'm not going anywhere until you explain yourself." She said firmly.

The guard leaned his face close. "It's about the plague." He murmured.

Now he had her attention. "Okay. Where?"

The guard wheeled around and walked quietly into a room two doors down. The doctor followed, entering the room. It was a meeting room, clean and empty. The lights were off, making the open door the only source of illumination. The guard was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello? I thought we were going to talk about the plague." Red Cross called.

"We are."

Red Cross shivered, her ears tilting back. Something had changed in the guard's voice. She couldn't place it, but it was no longer quite right. She started to head for the door…

Hooves over her mouth. A blaze of orange light, dying down to crimson. The feeling of something, something like breath, being tugged from her body.

Then the doctor was outside in the foyer, feeling woozy and light-headed.

_What was I doing?_ Doctor Red Cross wondered, steadying herself against a pillar. She couldn't remember. There had been _something…_

The aristocrat came out, blowing his nose. A guard nodded for the doctor to go in.

And go in she did, smothering a sneeze with one hoof as she went.

Back down the hallway, the doors to the meeting room swung open silently. Out stepped a white mare with a red mane and tail, glasses, lab coat, and a red cross Cutie Mark.

She smiled contentedly as she walked back into town, eyes glowing like hot coals.

* * *

-Author's Notes-

Just when you thought is was getting bad...

...it got worse.

Leave a review, please? I do so love reading them!


	15. 14 In a Trance

14 In a Trance

* * *

Well, a very fond thank you to bananadevourer8801 (So nice to have you back!), Chrnokeeper (Spike's just about realized how much trouble he's in), Waffleman2211 (Blizzard is coming up soon), and Prince Nox (Vex isn't spreading the disease, but _something_ is) for leaving your reviews!

* * *

The trees and bushes were drenched with crimson blood. It ran off leaves, pooling in sticky puddles in the grass. A strong smell of copper filled the air.

And in the middle of it all, lay a unicorn, his armor dented, robes torn, and barely breathing.

Trance ruefully realized he was probably about to die. The blood wolf, whatever it had been, had come upon him with such speed and ferocity that he hadn't been able to shield himself in time. It had done something to his right foreleg, because he couldn't feel that anymore, but with all the blood everywhere, it was hard to tell what was his blood and what was not. At least the beast of blood was gone.

It had been quick. Claws, raking across his fur. The feel of boiling hot liquid singeing his tail. Trying to defend himself from the monster, and failing. Teeth closing around his neck, then…an explosion. Being flung into a tree, something in him going _snap_…

Now…he just hoped he had saved Rainbow Dash, given her enough time to escape. That mare was something special, somepony that had reached out to him, seen through the fragile mask that was his air of professionalism, his shield from the past. Oh, how he wished he could have fought harder, just a bit…

Was it just him, or was the place getting darker? That made no sense, he thought fuzzily, the rain had stopped, so it should be brighter, right?

There was a soft _whoomph._ A familiar feeling of foreign magic…

Trance opened his eyes wider, hoping that it was one of his team. He inhaled sharply when he saw what it actually was, and despite the pain he tried to stand up and fight. He couldn't.

"Ahhhh…" The shadow creature said. Trance prayed to Celestia, to Luna, that he was hallucinating. He hadn't survived that blood wolf just to get mauled to death by this!

The creature bent down over the fallen mage, surveying him with its violet-rimmed orange eyes. They were unfeeling, and burned with dark hunger. Trance's eyes struggled to stay open; he had lost a lot of blood, and was beginning to feel faint.

The dark shadow's jaws opened, dozens of needle-like teeth gleaming in the gloom. Claws were extended, vividly solid compared to the rest of its being.

"Go on then," Trance croaked, shutting his rosy eyes, not even sure why he was talking. "Finish it."

To his astonishment, someone answered, "No."

The mage's eyes, now paler than before, opened. The shadow beast was regarding him with those starving eyes, the claws gone, its mouth shut.

It spoke again, in that same, thin, bladed manner of speech. "I am herrrre to offer you a way out. You are aboooout to die."

"I-no! I can't die here," Trance protested. He had lost all feeling in his lower half now. "So much to see…to do…"

"Then you willllll listen to me. You havvvvve no wish to die, yes?" the creature said, a gleam of cunning in its eyes. "I will save you from death. I will give you a second chance, in exchange for one little thing."

"Uhh…What…thing?" Trance gasped. He could barely keep his eyes open. "Name…it…"

The creature swooped down, so that they were now face to face. "I wannnt…your sooouuul."

The Solar Mage recoiled, sending a shot of painful sensation up his spine. His skin prickled. "Soul?"

"Yesss. Do you accept?"

Trance's mind raced, thinking of his two, no three close friends. They loved him like a brother, and Rainbow Dash, who he so wanted to see again. He thought of his marefriend back in Canterlot, whose face he kept in his memories at all times. What he couldn't do with a second chance…

His mouth and his heart were ready to accept. But something stilled his dying tongue. Did he really trust this being of darkness? The same being that had almost ended his life two nights before?

Trance remembered his comrades whom he had served with out in the wastelands. How many times had he wished they had been able to survive, to live a day longer? And now he was being given that chance, that golden opportunity that he so wanted to give others.

Trance's dark savior spoke one more time. "Havvve you made up your minnnd?"

The unicorn looked off into the forest, up at the moon, and back into those merciless orange eyes. He hoped that they could forgive him for leaving them early.

"I have." He said, and smiled up at the shadowy wraith. "it's 'no'."

* * *

Vex nodded at the pitiful creature. It had refused her offer. How she _hated_ the pure-hearted, cursed their integrity.

"Verrry well," she said, barely able to contain her rage. "Goodbye. We wonnn't see each other again."

Behind Trance, a swirling red portal opened, bathing the scene with bloody light as a Void Nexus Magistrate emerged, radiant scythe at the ready. The reaper looked at Vex, and she waved a clawed hand.

"Take him away," she hissed spitefully. "I want no morrrre to do with him."

The scythe swung down.

* * *

Spellbinder, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight galloped as fast as they could, scarcely able to keep up with Rainbow Dash, who was weaving through the trees, leaving a spectral afterimage.

She had flown as fast as she could, tearing through branches and underbrush, following Trance's magical trail. Spellbinder, Jinx, Rarity, and Twilight had all received the signal, Trance's last, desperate cry for help. Rainbow had run smack into Twilight's group, who too had been rushing to save the mage.

Spellbinder had enhanced their speed with a spell of agility, but once they closed in on Trance's last known location, they knew at once that they were too late.

Trance's lifeless body lay in the center of a red carpet of blood, still warm.

"No…_no…_" Dash gasped, falling to the forest floor. "Trance…"

Spellbinder rushed to his fallen comrade, shaking the body with his hooves. "C'mon, Trance, buddy. Wake up. _Wake up!_" he pleaded, jolting the fallen mage with bolts of electricity from his horn. "please…"

Twilight and Pinkie held Dash as she tried to hold back tears, failed, and simply slumped over her friends, shaking gently as hot tears rolled down her cyan face.

"I should have gone faster…"the pegasus sniffled. "I wasn't fast enough and it got him…"

By now, Jinx and Applejack had skidded into the area, the former joining Spellbinder and attempting to save their friend. The farmpony took in the scene with shock and grief on her freckled face. "What in tarnation happened?"

Twilight and Rainbow Dash's distraught faces caught their attention, not to mention the pink mare's straight mane. Applejack joined the group lending her silent support and strength.

Soon after, Jinx walked over slowly, her helmet weighing down on her head. "Come on. We need to get out of here. Trance…didn't make it." she said sadly. To Rainbow, she murmured, "It wasn't your fault. Sometimes, things like this happen, in the field. You did the best you could."

* * *

Graygan watched through his lexicon as the remaining Solar Mages bore Trance's body out with their magic, the rest of the ponies quietly crying as they followed.

"Oh dear. This _is_ a mess." The hooded operative muttered to himself. Not only had they brought about the death of a bystander, but upon closer inspection, the blood fiend had detonated as soon as it had bitten down on the unicorn's neck. Something to do with cross-world incompatibilities.

He went to check on Spike. It was feeding time again.

The door opened easily under his touch, and swung open without a sound. There was a _whoosh_, and Graygan's hand shot out, intercepting a metal pole that had been aimed for his head. His fingers closed around the weapon, the steel crumpling under his grip.

The dragonling looked surprised, but bolted for the exit, only to be stopped by Vex, diving out of his shadow and barricading the door with her essence.

"Thouuught you'd esssscape, eh?" she sneered. "After alllll we've done for you?"

Graygan gently picked up Spike and lowered him onto the bed. The dragonling struggled and tried to run away, but an imprisonment curse from Graygan held him tight.

"Lemme go!" the dragonling demanded. "I don't want to be here anymore! Let me go!"

Graygan looked at his hostage. "Why?" he said at last. "You've been treated like a king the moment you arrived here, why do you protest?"

"You're evil! You killed somepony!"

The being in black sighed. "Look, I didn't do it, the blood fiend did. And for the record, we were going to let you go in three days anyway. So please, calm yourself."

"Or I'llll make you…" Vex threatened.

"Vex, please." To Spike, he said, "You probably think of us as the bad guys."

"You are the bad guys." Spike shot back.

"Well, we're not. We're just here to do our jobs, like you do yours. So how about we cooperate, and have less of this whole escaping business?"

"How about you let me go, and the Princess won't kick your sorry flank?!" the baby dragon roared.

"Of course. We'll be only too happy to let you go free in three days."

Spike opened his mouth, perhaps to hurl more abuse, but sat down quietly. "Fine. You'll see. Princess Celestia and the Elements of Harmony are coming, and then they'll fix you good!"

This was obviously an attempt to unnerve his captors, but Graygan simply petted Spike over the head and said "That's the spirit."

Then he walked out, his clawed feet clicking on the floor, shutting the door behind him. Vex snarled a last time and slipped under the door, leaving Spike all alone.

* * *

They buried Trance in the Ponyville cemetery, a place not many ponies went to on a regular basis. As the dawn broke, Fluttershy invited Rainbow Dash to her cottage for the day, both for support and because the cyan pegasus looked incapable of flight. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie departed soon after, leaving Spellbinder, Jinx, and Twilight at Trance's grave.

It read: _Here lies Trance, noble comrade, loyal mage, and dear friend. _

"Goodbye buddy. See you on the other side." Spellbinder said.

They stood there for a long time. Even after the sun rose in all its glory, the two mages stood vigil over the mound of earth, their eyes never leaving the burial spot.

Finally, hours later, the three departed from the cemetery, the mages returning to the hotel, Jinx expressing desire for a strong drink.

Twilight returned to the library, which now felt hollow and empty now that Spike was really gone.

She wanted to write to Princess Celestia, to tell her mentor about the travesty that had been last night. Even without Spike, she felt that if she did not write, she would go mad.

Dipping a quill into her inkpot, Twilight began to write.

She heard the front door open a while later, having lost track of time due to her writing. The lavender mare cantered to the lobby.

Spellbinder was there, out of his uniform, silver mane and tail on full display.

"Twilight," the stallion said uncertainly. "I…I…I'm sorry…I never…" He hung his head. "I need to talk to somepony. I just…"

"Shh. It's okay. I'm here."

* * *

Spellbinder lay down on the library floor and closed his eyes. "Trance…" he whispered, as though saying his name would bring him back. His breath smelled of cider. Then he began to cry, his strong body shuddering as his emotions let loose. "Trance…I failed you. It should have been me. You had a life to go back to, a filly to love…" Tears pooled around his face.

Twilight lay down next to the stricken pony. She patted him on the back, just like her mother had done for her back when she was growing up.

"I remember," Spellbinder continued, his voice getting thicker. "Some of my old squadmates. Arcane Might, Well Wisher, all my old group. On the last tour, just before we were set to return to Canterlot…" The stallion's tears flowed faster, the droplets of sorrow joining their fellows around his face. "Sky Edge…we were just about to turn in for the night, and she had the first watch. She was barely out of school, recently transferred for her excellent flying skills and reconnaissance." He halfheartedly wiped his nose with his hooves. "We were woken up by the sound of her screaming. I'll never forget it…Arcane Might and Well Wisher ran off to help, but-but…" The Solar Mage sniffled, his stoic demeanor long forgotten in the depths of his tale. "But they were taken down in no time at all. It was Changelings, Twilight. They sensed the love we felt for our families in that cold, dusty wasteland, and they came down on us."

Spellbinder's breathing grew ragged as he tried to contain the raw emotion he was feeling. "I still remember Arcane Might telling us to go on without them. There were so many bodies around us, so many Changelings, we couldn't fight them all. So I ran. Me, Trance, and Jinx. All the rest of our company was already gone."

Twilight reached over and cupped the forlorn pony's face in her hooves. "Oh, you poor, poor thing…"

Spellbinder looked at his old classmate with his bloodshot eyes. "Why does this happen, Twi?" He sniveled. "Trance is gone now. We don't even know what we're up against. Does…does Celestia even care about us?"

Twilight held her friend, holding him close like she had done to Spike so many times before. "I know she does." The librarian cooed. "I know she cares."

* * *

Author's Notes

Poor Spike. Poor Spellbinder.

Still, at least Trance made the right choice. Remember what happened the last time somepony accepted the 'cheat death' deal?

Thanks for reading, and leave a review?


	16. 15 Reinforcements

15 Reinforcements

Had a lot of work from school, so sorry I kept you waiting. Anyhow, thanks to Chrnokeeper (Rest assured, Trance will have justice), bananadevourer8801 (Um...not sure what to say here), Waffleman2211 (Ah, Grimm has a reason, but I doubt anyone except her knows it), and Prince Nox (I'll finish writing this, don't worry) for leaving your reviews!

* * *

A shade drifted up to Grimm, handing her a letter. The officer took it, allowing for Faedran to take more time to plan his next move.

"Well, well, well. This is unexpected…" and edge of irritation, rarely heard, crept into her voice. It was the kind of edge that could cut glass. Grimm stood up, snatched her staff from its receptacle, and motioned to Faedran. Nightfall stood up too, curiosity in her red eyes.

"Faedran!" Grimm barked. "We must put a pause to our game and go to the armory. Something has…come up."

Faedran abandoned the boards immediately. Disobeying Grimm was never a good idea, but when she was like this…not following an order could mean instant demotion. And demotion was usually spread out with a highly destructive, armor piercing spell.

A gate was summoned, and the three stepped into it, arriving in a vast stone tower. There were doors everywhere, even on the floor and ceiling. Here and there, operatives went about their work, carrying magical artifacts from place to place, experimenting, testing out and preparing all manner of magical weaponry. There was the sound of two beings dueling with mana sabers, their distinctive _wzzzt _coming from behind a circle of stone in the wall. The appearance of the place changed occasionally, but this was its default form.

Grimm glided off down a tall door to the right, other beings getting out of her way. Everyone knew who Grimm was. She was feared. She was respected. Among the newer operatives, she was idolized. Not many ever spoke to her, but Grimm's cold, roundabout efficiency was a legend in itself. After fifteen thousand years though, this was hardly a surprise.

And now she was demonstrating that cold efficiency, striding into a room which was blocked off with magical barriers. The department's armorer, six wings flapping gently, greeted them, unperturbed that they had just waltzed right in.

It was a stark looking room, gray stone with a pedestal in the center. This was a fairly low-security room, barely any runes or hexes guarding the door.

"Ah, Grimm. Welcome to the scene of the theft. Exactly fifteen hours and twenty seven minutes ago, the operative calling himself Sirmyurin took a gate into this room and took the experiment that was in here. It was one of a kind."

Grimm did not say anything for a moment. "One of a kind, you say?"

"Yes. It was-"

"I don't care what it was supposed to do," Grimm cut him off sharply. "The fact that an operative of a mere six hundred years' experience was able to get in here unfettered is a disgrace. I request that you tighten up your security in future."

"Yes, of course, it will be done." The armorer babbled. "It wasn't a very important experiment anyway-"

"Silence. I don't care if it was important or not, I _do _care about who will be replacing you if you don't do as I say. Moreover, I want you to do _this_," Grimm handed the creature an envelope. "by tomorrow. Do it, and I will ensure you will be rewarded. Good day."

The armorer pulled the letter out of its casing. "Dragon armor? Necromantress, I don't understand."

But Grimm, Faedran, and Nightfall were already gone.

Back at the citadel, Grimm turned to Nightfall, who had been watching all this with amusement etched on her pale face. "Sirmyurin made it into Equestria. Ask the Gatekeeper why he was not stopped. I want to know why he took that experiment, how he took it, and more importantly, what he intends to do with it. The Gatekeeper knows this, ask him. Please." Grimm added, remembering that Nightfall was a Court member, and thus ranked higher than her. "I won't have that meddler being a wrench in the works of my magnificent plan."

The vampire smiled, scrawling a note in her lexicon. She loved following Grimm around. The officer had this air of command that very few beings had, a self-assurance that she was in control. And she still remembered her place, which was an added bonus. Not that she needed to be in the Court to get ahold of things that only the Court should have.

"Now back to the game," Faedran said, anticipation dripping from his teeth like corrosive slime. "You're going down."

* * *

Twilight awoke as the sun hit her face, forcing a red light on her eyeballs. Reluctantly getting up, she was pleasantly surprised, yet at the same time disappointed to find that Spellbinder was gone. The mare blushed at the thought of how awkward it would have been if they had woken up together. He had fallen asleep in her embrace, still unable to come to terms with the loss of his comrade.

It was a new experience; she had never spent the night with a stallion before, at least not one who wasn't family. She chuckled to herself, the laugh turning sour in her throat as she remembered what Spellbinder had been here for in the first place. Twilight's heart sank. She hadn't known Trance all that well, but in the fleeting hours that she had, the unicorn had managed to muster a search party, and had been willing to go look for Spike in the Everfree Forest, even when there had been a dangerous creature on the loose. She had to admit, Trance had seemed very uptight and uncaring before that, but just his willingness to help showed that he had been a good pony at heart.

"I'm sorry, Trance." Twilight said to the empty library. She felt bad inwardly, like she had played a part in the mage's death. And in a way, she had. If only she had kept a better lookout for her number one assistant…

A _clunk_ from the bathroom followed up by a muffled cry of pain made Twilight sit up and clasp her pillow in fear. Funny. She didn't remember taking a pillow to sleep with her last night. She threw the pillow back onto the bed with her telekinesis, and cautiously made her way to the bathroom door.

The water was on, the sound of the faucets filling the tranquil morning air with a _hiss_. By the sound of it, the tub was overflowing too. Had she left the tap on last night?

No. She hadn't even taken a bath, so entrenched had she been in her sadness and mourning. So who…

"Spellbinder?" called Twilight, knocking on the door's wood paneling. "Are you in there?"

No verbal response, but a groan came from her bathroom's interior, amplified to grisly proportions by the tiles.

"Spellbinder? Anypony?" Twilight was getting worried now. What if Spellbinder had been attacked while he was taking a bath?

"Spellbinder? I'm coming in!" she said anxiously, using her magic to unlock the door from the outside.

As it swung open and steam poured out and Twilight peered into it, she became aware of a light shining in her face. It was bright, it was yellow, and it was getting closer! Oh Celestia, what was it?

Then without any warning, Twilight found herself pinned to the floor by someone, or something. A _clang_ from next to her head made her ears ring. The light was now right in her face, shining in her eyes from the left, barely two inches from her own eyes.

Something had followed them from the Everfree Forest. This was the only conclusion that mad sense to Twilight's sleep-deprived, fearful mind. Whatever had killed Trance had followed them here to finish them off.

And it had probably done in Spellbinder while she was asleep.

She could feel something breathing on her face. It was hot and rapid, and…not altogether unpleasant…it smelled like…daisies?

Ignoring the feeling of some warm liquid dripping on her face, Twilight forced herself to concentrate, using a quick meteorology charm to blow the mist away. The fog parted to show, leaned over her and panting slightly-

"Blizzard?!" exclaimed the unicorn, her mouth dropping open in sheer shock. "What are you doing?"

The soaked pegasus kept staring for a second, but as if suddenly realizing what was going on, jumped off the librarian, landing in a heap on the floor with a dull _splat_. She sprang up almost immediately, combing her mane with her free hoof. A puddle of water began to collect at her rump.

Twilight stared at her for a full minute. "Blizzard Gale?" she asked, feeling more than a bit ticked off. "What in the name of Equestria were you doing in my bathroom? What in the name of Equestria _are_ you doing?"

The guilty pony slowly got up and looked at Twilight. Her drenched blue and white striped mane, normally messy and windswept, was now more subdued, a fair amount of it hanging over her right eye.

"Um, well…" Blizzard was doing a wonderful impression of Fluttershy and speaking just loud enough to be audible.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked exasperatedly. She was feeling better now that she knew there wasn't something in the bathroom that was trying to kill her, but was still _really_ puzzled as to why her friend had been hiding in the bathroom, then had just pounced her. She stared sternly at Blizzard Gale, who looked conflicted as to what to do.

"Maybe this will help." The dark blue pegasus said quietly. She pulled her mane out of her face. Twilight gasped.

Blizzard's right eye was, in contrast to her left one which was icy blue, a bright yellow. Moreover, the pony's wings, which were bare, had begun to blacken near the front, where the wing guards usually were mounted.

"It won't come out, no matter what soap I used." Blizzard said, her voice quavering. "I-I don't know what happened just now…I don't remember a lot of things…"

Twilight ran a fearful eye over her friend. Having two different eye colors was unheard of in ponies. Changing eye colors overnight was not even thought of.

"Blizzard…what happened?" Twilight walked up to the pegasus, pulling one wing straight with her magic and examining it closely. She then looked into Blizzard's right eye. It was, without a doubt, yellow.

The same yellow, she noted, as before; it was the implacable shade of yellow that was not quite found on any color chart. Twilight knew this because she had tried four times.

"How-how long has this been going on? Do you know?" Twilight asked.

Blizzard brushed her mane back over her yellow eye, ashamed. "Almost a month." She admitted in a hushed voice. "But it's never stayed like this! That's why I came to try and get it out."

"Not the wing, your eye! It's been going on for a month and you never said anything?"

"I didn't want to-ah!" Blizzard cried out in the middle of her sentence.

The pegasus writhed on the floor, her wings extended to their full length before closing again. When the seizures subsided, Twilight helped her up. Making sure to keep her distance. In case she got pounced. Again.

"Ughh," moaned the pegasus as she struggled feebly on the library floor, still dripping wet.

She did not try to get up. Blizzard looked utterly spent, even more miserable then Twilight had thought possible.

"I don't know how much longer I can take it…" Blizzard wheezed. Blood ran from her mouth; she had bitten her tongue. "I don't know what to do." The pegasus sobbed, an edge of hysteria creeping into her voice.

Twilight draped a towel around her friend, soaking up the water before she could catch a cold. "I-I'm not sure what's wrong either." She admitted, while helping Blizzard up to her hooves.

"I think I do." Said a voice from the window.

* * *

"Two days rrrremaining."

Graygan glanced at Vex. She was floating back and forth, a cheap imitation of pacing back and forth.

"I know, Vex. You don't have to count for me."

Vex's eyes lit up. "I know."

The hooded being sighed and got out of his recliner. It was time to feed the dragonling again. What a pain. Every time he went in, Spike would either try to attack him, or whine about how they would 'get what was coming to them'. While he did not like Vex's attitude, he sympathized with the shade; this was one of the most tiring jobs they had been given. And for a being with over two thousand years of service to his name, that was saying _a lot_.

Graygan had almost made it to the door when he felt something. Something…a change in the air. Not so much a feeling as a sudden alteration of the texture of the fabric of reality…it was hard to explain, but he knew he wasn't imagining this, because at the exact same time, Vex shuddered as well.

"Did yooou feel that?" she purred.

"I did. I'm not sure I like it either."

Graygan flicked his lexicon open, the pages rustling as they aligned. There was a new message from Grimm. Scanning it quickly, the hooded being ran over some calculations, ran over them again, and shut his book.

"Vex, stay here." He said shortly. "I'm going to reinforce the area. We've got company."

* * *

Author's Notes

Two days until Spike's deadline.

Leave a review, if you want to leave one?


	17. 16 Losing Control

16 Losing Control

* * *

My warm thanks to Chrnokeeper (her condition is rather worrying, but not as worrying as some other things, perhaps), bananadevourer8801 (More misery coming up here! Enjoy!), Prince Nox (I think you'll like this chapter), and Waffleman2211 (It's fine, take your time reading this! As for whether I was trying to be surprising, I'm not sure what I was trying to do last chapter) for reviewing!

* * *

Princess Celestia, the daytime ruler of the land of Equestria and one of its goddesses, was deeply troubled. She sat in her room that evening, reading her last pieces of news before getting ready to turn the throne over to her sister, Princess Luna. The white alicorn's brow creased slightly as she turned from report to report. He wings, carefully groomed and preened, lay folded at her sides.

The disease, or Furgrey as the physicians were referring to is as, due to the victims' color slowly draining away after two days of infection, was spreading. In the past two days, no less than forty-one ponies had reported into the Canterlot hospital, never to report out. All of them had the same symptoms: Runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, and other commonplace, ordinary ailments that would not hadve been out of place with the common cold or Feather Flu. It was almost frightening, the rate the infected ponies' health deteriorated. From the hospital reports that day, there were no known causes, either. Most of the patients had not recalled eating anything out of the ordinary, nor had many of them been leading an unhealthy lifestyle. One moment, all fine, the next, one sneeze, and the fight was lost.

Celestia set her golden tiara, slippers, and necklace on their padded cushions on her dresser. It was such a relief to be rid of their weight, especially after such a long and trying day.

The doors to her bedroom swung gently open, revealing the smaller, but no less regal form of Princess Luna, the ruler of the night. A cup of hot coffee was levitating next to her mouth, a hoof adjusting her silver tiara as she walked.

"Evening, Tia," she greeted. The elder sister nodded to Luna tiredly. "Is something wrong, sister?"

Celestia rubbed her face slowly, her fur silky and frictionless under her hoof. "Hello, Luna. No, nothing's wrong…" she muttered wearily.

Luna set her coffee down on an ornamental table and trotted over to her sister, sitting next to her and eyeing the medical reports grimly. "No improvements on the situation, I take it?"

"Sadly no. It's uncanny."

Luna picked up a report written by a Doctor Red Cross. "Hey, was this not the doctor we summoned from Manehattan? What is her take on this?" She read on, flipping through the thick, chart-covered pages quickly. "Disease may be of magical origin, unlike anything ever seen in the medical community. Have you spoken to this doctor?"

"I have." The sun princess confirmed with a shake of her royal head. "She's fallen ill too."

"Oh my."

"And to make matters worse, it seems there is a problem in Ponyville, as Twilight Sparkle has not sent me a friendship report, neigh, not even replied to my letters, which is most unlike her. Something's wrong down there."

"Have you considered sending somepony to investigate?" Luna suggested while she replaced the file.

"I sent that squad of Solar Mages not too long ago. I haven't heard from them either."

Luna considered this carefully. "Then something is indeed awry. Your student may be preoccupied, but your mages are trained to report any disturbance to us."

Celestia merely nodded and rested her head on a cushion.

"Anyway Luna, I can't keep you here any longer. You have a long night ahead."

"That I do, sister. Good night."

* * *

As Luna departed from her sister's quarters, carrying her coffee, she couldn't help but notice how quiet the palace seemed. Of course, night was the tranquil, serene time of day when ponies were supposed to be sleeping, but this was different. A thick, swollen silence filled the halls, almost smothering any feelings of relaxation. Two Lunar guards, at some silent, unseen signal, fell in beside the moon princess, flanking her on both sides. She recognized them; the one on her right was Moonbeam, the other being Night Glimmer. Their batlike wings held at attention, they stared straight ahead while at the same time keeping perfect pace with their charge.

The three of them proceeded to the throne room, hooves _clip-clop_ping on the marble floor. The hallways were deserted, only a single maid passing them on the way there. Even Moon Beam and Night Glimmer were on high alert, yellow eyes darting here and there. There even seemed to be fewer guards, but they all knew why that was; seven royal guards, both Solar and Lunar, had been checked into Canterlot Equestrian Hospital earlier that day. Their absence, painfully obvious, weighed on everypony's minds.

Luna suspected that Furgrey was no natural occurrence. It had appeared too quickly, struck too quickly for it to be natural. She suspected that some unicorn had accidentally created some potion in the process of making an elixir, but quickly reminded herself that nopony tried to make elixirs anymore. Maybe a thousand years ago.

A pegasus stood by with a stack of papers as a unicorn, Quill Pusher, sorted them into a more manageable pile. At the door, aristocrats, emissaries, and other diplomats were already lining up.

Luna sighed inwardly as she sat down for the night. There had been something unusual about Moonbeam tonight. Something about his horn…she couldn't remember; had he had it polished?

Celestia was right. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Night Glimmer's dark mane was feeling the breeze as it wafted through an open window. Both pegasi cantered through the upper floors, systematically checking every room, every dark corner for something, anything unusual that they could jump on and arrest. As per usual, there was nothing. Trying not to feel disappointed, Glimmer struck up some conversation.

"So, Moonbeam," he said, addressing the other pegasus guard. "How about this disease, huh?"

Moonbeam shrugged as he glanced to his partner. "Pretty bad. This Furgrey has everypony up in a tizzy."

Night Glimmer suppressed a snort of laughter. "Tizzy? Where'd you learn to talk like that?"

"Oh, probably one of those upper-class ponies that's always hanging around the palace. They say all kinds of refined-I mean ridiculous things."

Glimmer and Moonbeam took a left at the stairs. This was the longest path back to the barracks, but it went through the garden, and that was always worth going through. The pair burst out into the cool darkness of the Canterlot Royal Gardens, feeling the night air wash over them. It smelled moist, and full of the sweet scent of flowers that only grew here, under the careful eye of the gardeners. Moonbeam looked especially blown away, stopping in his tracks and giving the main area a slow once-over.

"Gee, was it always this nice?" he asked in a hushed voice.

Glimmer didn't stop, but slowed his pace enough for his partner to catch up. "Well yeah, we only pass through here once a night, or were you too busy thinking of Star Gazer to notice?" Star Gazer was a pretty waitress who worked in a nearby inn, often frequented by guards for its affordable yet good tasting food, and more often than not, its shapely staff. Moonbeam had been visiting every other night, and had gotten quite close with Star Gazer as of late.

But Moonbeam looked confused. "Star Gazer?" he asked uncertainly before giving Night Glimmer a nervous smile. "Oh, yeah! Star Gazer. Nice pony." He finished rather lamely before setting off at a brisk pace for the barracks.

Glimmer frowned. It wasn't like Moonbeam, the one of the more popular stallions in the guard force, to get cold hooves like this so suddenly. Maybe after a few mugs of cider and dandelion wine, but not _sober._

Night Glimmer caught up with Moonbeam just as he was pushing his way into the common room and settling down into a chair in front of the fire. There weren't many other guards here. Nearly all of them were on duty, or sleeping. Nopony wanted to stay up late anymore, especially not with the new Furgrey plague on the loose. Everyone wanted their immune systems to be as good as they could be. Hence, not so soon after, the remaining stallions and mares went to their respective wings, bidding the new arrivals a good, and safe night.

Night Glimmer hung up his armor at his pegs and settled down across from his partner. He then got up and pulled two mugs from a cabinet, as well as a bottle of hard cider. Moonbeam caught what he was doing and shook his head gently.

"No cider for me tonight." He said softly. "I'll get a cup of tea instead."

Glimmer almost dropped the bottle. "_What?_" he exclaimed loudly. Somepony yelled "Shut up!" Night Glimmer cringed and repeated in a quieter tone "What? But you always have cider. Are you feeling alright?"

The other pegasus walked to the sink and poured some water into the battered teapot. Then he picked out some tea leaves from the medicinal drawer and threw them in, stirring with a spoon. "Look, I just feel like drinking tea tonight, okay?"

Glimmer's face remained stony. Then he got an idea. "Oh, I get it. This is about the Furgrey, isn't it? Trying to keep healthy, eh?"

Moonbeam threw two sugar cubes and a splash of milk into his mug before pouring in the tea. "Something like that."

"Well, more power to you, but I'm gonna drink this, Furgrey or not."

With that, the Lunar guard uncorked the bottle, seeing the amber liquid glistening to the neck, and with one smooth motion, tipped back his head and took a long draught.

"Ah," he sighed. "Feeling more relaxed already."

Moonbeam came over with his cup of tea. He sipped from it delicately and stared at Night Glimmer, who had just taken a second pull at the bottle. It was now half empty.

"Shee, no problems!" he said cheerfully. "This cidersh pretty good. Shure you don't want any?"

"No thank you, but you are kind to offer." Moonbeam replied, taking a bite from a biscuit. A biscuit that he had taken from a silver tray that had not been there a moment ago.

"Wait jusht a minute," Glimmer said. "That tray…"

"Yes?"

"Those biscuits…"

"What about them?"

Night Glimmer stared at the tray, then at Moonbeam, then back again. His eyes narrowed.

"You had bishcuits and never told me?"

The other pegasus relaxed. "My bad. Here, have some."

"Don't mind if I do."

As he gnawed on the biscuit, the tipsy guard's gaze wandered around the room, finally alighting on a list of some sort that corporal Nocturne had left on the backgammon table.

"Hey, Moonbeam, get a load of this," he said, picking up the sheaf of paper, turning it around when he realized he had it up the wrong way. "It's a list of all the guardsponies who're sick. Heh, let's see…Captain Bright, Valiant Silver, Golden Intent, Windrider, Moonbeam, Minty Gr-hold on a minute…"

He looked over the list again. There it was, written in the Sergeant's own hoof, 'Moonbeam, on sick leave due to Furgrey infection'.

Night Glimmer stared up at Moonbeam, who had set his now empty cup on the backgammon table. He was still dressed in his uniform. There was something different about that pegasus, now that he'd had a good look…

"Um, Moonbeam? Is…is that a horn?"

"Is it?" Moonbeam replied in a voice that was slightly higher than it had been a minute ago.

Night Glimmer was getting that uneasy feeling, the kind that one gets when there's a wasp in the room, but nopony knows where it is. It was the kind of feeling that drill sergeants spent months trying to instill in their troops.

And in Night Glimmer's mind, this feeling was going off like crazy.

"Uh, kinda. I mean…"

And then the other pony jumped out of his seat, his wings unfurling and his eyes flashing from dull yellow to a searing orange. For a millisecond, Night Glimmer's vision was full of orange, dying down to bloody crimson. Something like breath was being tugged out of his body, inflicting a kind of tickling pain…

Then he was all alone, with a bottle of hard cider, and a very hazy memory of what had happened that day.

He coughed. Coughed again.

Outside the guard barracks, Moonbeam uncloaked, the invisibility spell melting off his body like water off a duck's back. He smiled smugly before trotting to the main town, where there were much more ponies.

Passing behind a tall oak tree, Moonbeam allowed himself to change, to meld himself into a more appropriate shape for a nighttime stroll.

Out from behind the tree, a young mare emerged, light brown with a curly yellow mane.

She looked back at the palace and smirked. Her eyes, deep crimson, lit up the night.

"Just you wait, Celestia. Just you wait."

* * *

_Author's Notes_

Furgrey is spreading like magefire, and now, perhaps it's a little more clear what's going on in Canterlot.

Leave a review, and be wary of cups of tea.


	18. 17 Magic

17 Magic…

* * *

Thank you to Chrnokeeper (Creepy illness indeed. Creepier still, there doesn't seem to be a cure), Prince Nox (Ah, but the shapeshifter has been mentioned several times already, and in this chapter too), Waffleman2211 (I guess there really wasn't much to say), bananadevourer8801 (It's always interesting to read about ponies catching a disease), Dainn (Organization XIII, you say? Must be the back coats), and Featherstone180 (Window in Twilight's bathroom? What am I thinking?) for reviewing. Sorry to keep you waiting.

* * *

Something had happened to Sirmyurin. As the alicorn walked, no, stumbled into the library that doubled as Twilight's home, she noticed that his mane and tail, which had been so thick and full of life before, were now limp and stringy, with only a few tendrils at the tips twitching as he walked across the wooden floor. They played about his exceedingly cracked hooves, wrapping and unwrapping like wet noodles. The alicorn's wings were ruffled, messy, and burnt, the tips of them dragging over the ground and shedding at least a dozen feathers. A burlap sack was slung over his back, connected to his chipped horn by fragments of blue light. All in all, Sirmyurin looked like a picture of defeat.

Twilight was amazed to see him at all. After their last parting, she had never thought that the alicorn would be allowed back into Equestria. Judging by his wounds, she had been right in a way. It looked like he'd fought his way back, and the opposition hadn't pulled any punches.

"I'm not too late, am I?" he panted as he set his bag on the floor. As he turned, the two other ponies saw with a gasp that there was a dark wound in his side, still glistening with dark vapor. Noticing their look, Sirmyurin shrugged tiredly. "Gatekeeper got off a shot before I could explain." He said. "It's not as bad as it looks…I hope."

Blizzard Gale stumbled over to him. Blood dripped from her mouth as she spoke. "What…why are you here? I thought you went back to-"

"I'll explain later…let's get you cleaned up. You look like Nightfall after dessert."

"Who?"

"Never mind. Look. I know you want to catch up with me and all that, but we can do that after I…after I…"

They never knew what he was going to say next, for the snowy white equine's yellow cat eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed onto the floor with a heavy _thud_.

"Ooh," Blizzard and Twilight said as one.

* * *

Grimm's gloved, nonexistent hands drummed on the tabletop while Faedran moved a bishop to the first plane, square D-3. Not a bad move, but it left his Fiendlord piece open for attack. Instead of capitalizing on this advantage however, Grimm's attention returned to the report that levitated in front of her mask.

"So…_that's_what he's planning…" she murmured. The violet lights behind her angular mask gleaned ominously. She sounded cheerful, a fact which Nightfall and Faedran took into careful consideration. When Grimm was happy, it usually meant someone else was about to get very sad.

"Indeed." Nightfall said airily. "The Gatekeeper got Sirmyurin's entire confession written in his lexicon. We could send a squad of Stalker units out and put an end to him right now, of you wanted; no, even four Black Jesters would be enough. The Gatekeeper managed to injure him quite severely."

Grimm glanced across at the vampire Court member. "You rank higher than me, Nightfall. Why not do it without my permission?"

"Because this is _your_ operation, Grimm. It would be extremely rude of me to change your plans without asking you first."

"Point taken."

Faedran, who had remained quiet throughout this entire time, spoke up.

"We should alert Graygan, Vex, and Shroud. Sirmyurin will be an unknown variable, an obstacle that could put this entire mission down-"

Faedran stopped abruptly, withering under the violet gaze of Grimm.

"I don't think telling them will be necessary." She said in a deathly quiet voice. "In fact, I think that seeing how they adapt to the situation will be more amusing than letting them prepare, don't you?"

Faedran reluctantly agreed, then stopped thinking about it altogether. Having a Fiendlord taken right under one's nose does that.

* * *

"Can he be trusted?"

It didn't take long for Twilight to run out and fetch her friends, as well as Spellbinder and Jinx. While everypony who had been present at the manor six months ago was overjoyed to see Sirmyurin again, Spellbinder and Jinx were highly skeptical. After all, they were still getting used to the idea that there were now three alicorns in the land, now a fourth one showed up? Jinx's horn shimmered, casting several revealing spells that would detect any kind of deception or trickery.

"He's…clean." She said grudgingly. "There's no tricks that I can sense." The mage stared at Twilight and her friends hard. Her eyes, which were a sky blue, were bloodshot and had dark circles around them. "But you'd better explain to me who this is, and what this has to do with beating whatever killed Trance."

She seemed to have taken her fellow teammate's death harder than Spellbinder had, from whose report she had learned that Jinx had spent the whole night drinking hard cider. Twilight briefly wondered whether Trance had been something more than another squad member to her.

She was nudged back to reality by Jinx's remaining partner. "Twilight, explain please. Anything that might help us get Spike back is important."

"Yes, Spike, of course." She cleared her throat and tried to think of the best way to tell the mages.

_Focus, Twilight. Now is not the time to be pondering the love lives of other ponies._

"This alicorn's name is Sirmyurin." She began slowly. "He was in Equestria six months ago, and helped to save our lives from some dark monsters hiding in the manor at the edge of town."

"I heard stories about what happened in there." Jinx muttered. "Didn't a flaming blue dragon come exploding out the front door?"

"Yeah," confirmed Rainbow Dash. "I'm glad that dragon's gone. He was a hundred times worse than Nightmare Moon and Discord."

"Wait…you killed it?" Spellbinder exclaimed.

Applejack grimaced, still remembering the feel of her tail on fire. "More a' killed itself, if ya ask me."

"If anything, I dare say the world is better off without that awful bony drake." Said Rarity. "But Sirmyurin here was a hero. He turned on his comrades just in time for us to save Blizzard Gale here from a horrible fate."

Blizzard nodded at the mages. It was true.

"So I assume he's come back to help us in our time of need again?" Jinx asked.

"I hope so." Replied Twilight. "He looks like he flew through a thunderstorm to get here."

"_Thunderstorm, nothing. Lot worse than that."_

Everypony jumped and stared at Sirmyurin. He hadn't moved an inch, but the eye facing them was now open, displaying a vividly yellow iris and slitted, cat-like pupil.

"You're awake!" Pinkie Pie gasped. "And I didn't even notice!" She pressed her face to the prone alicorn's eyeball. "You're gooood."

"Not good enough…" Sirmyurin said dully, the eye roving around the library. "Good to see you all again, by the way. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"It's not that bad-"

Rainbow Dash was interrupted by Sirmyurin launching himself out of bed and into her face. The fear was chiseled into his expression like stone.

"Don't you get it?! It _is_ that bad! Your world is in danger! I'm here to-_Arrg!_" The alicorn fell away from Dash, clasping his horn. Blizzard was at his side in an instant, helping him to lie down again, but he waved her off.

"I'll be fine. There's no time. Grimm has sent operatives to destroy Ponyville by any means necessary!"

"WHAT?!" Everypony was suddenly struck by images of the town in flames, of ponies fleeing from some unthinkable horror, as it slowly advanced, devouring homes and equines alike. Shadowy specters rising from cracks in the ground, flinging orbs of dark magic and lightning around like toys. If the first encounter was anything to be judged by, Ponyville was as good as doomed.

"W-why?" Fluttershy squeaked.

Sirmyurin shook his head tiredly. Strands of his mane whipped around his eyes. "I don't know why. Probably Faedran hired her to do it, but that's not the point. I know how to stop it."

"Well why didn't you say so?" Jinx snapped.

The alicorn gave the mage a once-over. "Jinx, Solar mage, served for five years, six months, twelve days, and fifteen hours in the Equestrian National Defense force. You drank four bottles of cider recently, in an attempt to lessen the pain of losing Trance, another mage, who meant something to you."

Jinx was stunned speechless. "How-how did you know?" she stuttered.

Sirmyurin simply answered with a smile, "Magic."

* * *

Graygan returned to the hideout with a spring in his step.

"I think that will suffice." He said as he settled into his armchair and propping up his clawed feet. "Now all we have to do is wait for Shroud to finish its work."

He was interrupted by a pounding from the room where Spike was imprisoned.

"_LET ME OUT!" _the baby dragon shrieked, hammering with his fists on the door.

Graygan sighed and tossed a silencing spell at the door, muffling Spike's screams. Deep in his hood, Graygan frowned. Shroud had better finish up soon. If this went on, he might actually tear out Spike's vocal chords, and that was something the hooded being didn't want to do.

He might get blood on the carpet, for starters.

* * *

"The reason Spike was taken from you, was because the operatives thought he might know about the locations of the Elements of Harmony." Sirmyurin was saying.

He and the rest of the ponies were gathered in Twilight's basement, staring at the burlap sack that the alicorn had brought with him.

"They plan to use the Elements, a force of good, to destroy the town? That's pretty desperate." Commented Spellbinder.

"It doesn't matter! Once they realize the plan won't work, they'll kill Spike or even worse, crush his soul. These two aren't the kind you can reason with!"

Jinx raised a hoof. "I sent for reinforcements last night, you know. By this evening, we'll have about fifteen extra guards, as well as Captain Starshield. We should launch the attack then, and rescue Spike once we have the opposition outnumbered."

"Jinx," Blizzard said. "With all due respect, if you sent the whole guard force at these operatives, I doubt we would succeed. Sirmyurin, you have a plan, don't you?"

The pegasus was rewarded with a nod. "Indeed I do."

The sack was grasped and turned upside down. There was a clatter as a small metal medallion fell out. It was about two inches in diameter, and had a sinister looking rune engraved in the center, shaped like a seven pointed star with thorns all over it.

"This," Sirmyurin said, relishing the moment, "Is a Siege Breaker rune."

"A what?"

"I stole it from the armory before I left for Equestria. It's meant for breaking the enchantments around heavily defended buildings, hence the name. Since the area where these two operatives are hiding is sure to be deeply fortified, I thought it would be a neat little surprise for them."

"It's our ace in the hole. Once we find the area where those two are hiding, we'll plant the rune, set it off with magic, and rescue Spike."

"How good is it?" Spellbinder asked.

The alicorn looked sheepishly at the group, one wing massaging his wounded side. "I…I don't know. They hadn't tested it yet. That's how I was able to get it so easily."

"If you count getting blasted in the side and almost dying as easily," Jinx muttered. Louder, she said, "So you have no idea if this will even work? Great plan."

"It will work." Sirmyurin replied. "I can sense the spells bound to the rune. Once it's tripped, they'll all be cast at once, and destroy the opposition."

"You keep talking about these two operatives," Rarity pointed out, "But you haven't told us who they are. Do you know them?"

"I can't say their names. Only reading it in a lexicon or hearing the names from the operatives themselves works, and my lexicon stopped working as soon as I came to this world. I almost flew to your capital, since I was following Blizzard's soul signature. Strong presence in both Canterlot and Ponyville, but I figured you'd want to live with your friends. Anyhow, my lexicon burned itself once I got to the edge of town."

Blizzard Gale slid a black, leather bound book onto the table from her saddlebag. "You mean _this_ lexicon?"

Sirmyurin picked it up with his hooves and flicked through it, the pages turning under his grasp effortlessly. Once he had found the right page, he slid the book back onto the table.

The book showed a two legged being, with clawed feet and wearing a long black coat with a hood that hid its face. Its armored hands were clasped around a smoky looking sword, purple in color. The sword had eyes on the blade, bright orange with violet rims. Magical flames swirled around the being, and the same three-pronged face that was on Blizzard's flank was emblazoned on the sword's hilt.

Twilight, and Blizzard gasped. They alone recognized the one who had made the deal with death to give Blizzard back her life. The being had stopped time, and resurrected Blizzard all by himself.

The opposite page read:

_Graygan_

_One of Grimm's finest, this operative is a skilled spellbreaker and spellweaver. Once a mage in a faraway land, Graygan used magic for peace until an invading army slaughtered his kingdom. Fueled by anger and a desire for justice to be served, Graygan enlisted in the Grand Master's ranks, rising quickly through various schools of magic until he was able to travel back to his home and crush the opposition single-handedly. Graygan has been paired with Vex, a highly destructive spirit that feeds on souls. Their current mission is-_

The text stopped there.

Spellbinder stood up. Fire blazed in his eyes. For the first time since this mess had begun, they knew what they were up fighting.

"Alright. Now that we know what we're up against, let's plan this out. We only have one shot. Let's make it count."

* * *

~Author's Notes

Again, I'm sorry I kept you waiting.

I guess it's useless to say anything else.

Leave a review, if you want.


	19. 18 Retrieval

18 Retrieval

* * *

My deepest appreciation to The Midniyt Stalker (Glad you remembered!), Prince Nox (Ah, yes, Sirmyurin is back, and he's ready to help!), Waffleman2211 (The plot's still got a while to go, but I'm happy you're enjoying this!), and bananadevourer8801 (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too!) for reviewing! It's pretty chaotic here, but it's nice to have people who want to know what happens next, or I fear I might lose all my motivation.

* * *

Dusk fell quickly in Ponyville that night, the moon climbing leisurely to its apex, almost full.

Twilight and company stood in the center of town, watching the skies. Jinx's reinforcements were late, and she refused to budge toward the Everfree Forest without at least knowing why Captain Starshield was late.

"They said they'd arrive this _evening._" The battlemage fumed under her breath. "It's almost midnight."

Spellbinder patted her on the back. Just once before looking back at his, for want of a better word, troops.

The stallion sidled up to Twilight Sparkle, nudging his nose into her shoulder as she watched the stars. It was as clear a sky as Ponyville had ever seen, hundreds of twinkling pinpricks winking down at the sleeping village.

"Always were top in astronomy, Twilight." He murmured. The lavender mare's head turned.

"Just observing the constellations. Orion, The Big Dipper, all the usuals."

Spellbinder moved closer, his blue eyes shining under his helmet. "Haven't changed a bit, have you?" he asked her with a smile, which Twilight returned. "Same old Twilight."

They stood in silence as the moon shone down.

"You know," Twilight whispered. "It'll be a full moon in two nights. I promised I'd help Rarity gather Moon Blossoms then. And the Wednesday after that, Rainbow wanted me to go with her to the Daring Do convention in Trottingham. So much to do…but ever since Spike was kidnapped, none of it mattered anymore."

"Twi…" Spellbinder said. He recalled, with a pang of bittersweet nostalgia, their days at Canterlot University. They had both wanted to serve the Princess, but in the end, they had gone their separate ways. He was ashamed to admit it, but he hadn't even thought of Twilight since leaving school until they had met two nights ago. It hurt.

The mare's eyes began to moisten. "What if...what if we can't get him back? What if this Graygan and Vex are too strong?"

"Twilight…"

Ignoring Spellbinder, Twilight continued, "What if the rune doesn't work? It's never been tested. How about if-"

"Twilight." Spellbinder said, using his magic to hold her mouth shut. "We _will _make it through this. I promise. " He released his hold on her. "I was right. You haven't changed at all. Still worrying about what could go wrong, instead of what will go right."

"I'm sorry." Whispered Twilight. "I just can't help myself. Ever since I was a filly, I've always been prone to overthinking situations. I just wish I'd kept a more careful watch on Spike that night. Told him to come with us or something."

"If Spike had come with us, he'd have gotten in more danger than whatever he's in now."

"How do you know that?"

"It's a hostage situation. If he was no longer…living, they would have no reason for holding Spike captive. It's not much, but if these two are as good as their word, Spike's still alive."

"It's not much." Twilight agreed sadly.

Spellbinder gave her a pat on the head, and was about to join Jinx when he got an idea.

"Hey. After this is over, I'll help you with those other things you had to do."

There wasn't much of a reaction from Twilight, so he began to walk away.

Then the stallion's breath was promptly knocked out of him as the mare he'd been talking to gave him a rib-crushing hug.

"_Thank you." _She whispered, looking up at Spellbinder with glad eyes.

"You're welcome…" Spellbinder squeaked, trying to pull Twilight off. "Now could you…please…let…go? Can't…breathe…"

"_Ahem"_ someone said testily.

Twilight and Spellbinder jumped apart and simultaneously searched for the source of the voice.

They didn't have to look far.

Standing directly behind them were Jinx, Twilight's friends, Sirmyurin, and four tall ponies in armor that they didn't know.

"Guess what?" Jinx said resignedly, too dour to smirk at the romance she had undoubtedly observed. "The guards are here."

* * *

There was a moment of silence as Spellbinder and the new arrivals looked each other over.

Farthest right and left were two pale, muscular earth ponies, dressed in the traditional gold of the Canterlot royal guard, carrying spears. Between them was a sullen looking male unicorn. He looked…grey and tired; were it not for his breathing, you could have mistaken him for a statue.

And at the front of the squad, the tallest of them all, stood a stunning pegasus mare. She wore whie-gold armor that clashed beautifully with her pale pink coat. She also wore a helmet that hid her face completely, and had a horn welded to the forehead.

"Only four?" Rainbow asked at last, fluttering over the whole group. "Thought you promised fifteen or something."

"I'm curious about that as well." Sirmyurin muttered.

The mare stepped forward and saluted.

"I am Captain Starshield, and I come bearing grim news." Her voice would have been beautiful, but the helmet's visor was making it tinny.

"The kingdom of Canterlot has fallen into the grip of a new and terrible plague."

"_Plague?" _more than one pony exclaimed.

"You, you mean like a _disease _plague?" Fluttershy squeaked, her wings going limp with fear.

"Just like that." Starshield confirmed. "It came from nowhere, couple of days ago. Doctors have no idea where it came from, or how to cure it. Sections of Canterlot have been quarantined, and Celestia has put all her effort into finding out what it is. The royal guard is spread thin, and couldn't spare more than four of us to help. I'm sorry."

Applejack slowly looked at her hooves as if she was expecting a plague to burst out on her fur that very instant. "What're the signs?"

The earth pony on the right spoke up. "Starts like a common cold, but slowly, your fur turns grey and you fall into a coma."

"Headaches?" Blizzard said suddenly, cradling her head in her hooves.

The grey unicorn shook his head sagely. "Of all the medical reports I've read," he said slowly. "None of them had headaches. Just coughing and sneezing. Then it progresses to the next stage."

"Nothing slows it down, not magic, not medicine, not hot soup. It's like a curse. There's only been one known case of a recovery."

"Who?" asked Twilight tentatively.

Starshield put a hoof to her slim chest. "Me."

Everypony stared into the captain's helmeted face as she paced back and forth. "I'm the only pony to ever recover from Furgrey, as they're calling it. I figured it might have something to do with the meteor that hit here not so long ago. So I volunteered to come for this mission, hoping to find a cure."

Twilight was distraught. "But…why didn't the Princess write to me about it?"

Pinkie Pie gasped, horror and realization etched into her face. "It all makes sense now." She hissed, her knees knocking. "Those meanies in the forest started this plague, then kidnapped Spike so you wouldn't know about it! And now they're planning to lure us there so they can steal the Elements! That's so…mean!"

"That makes…perfect sense." Sirmyurin seconded. "We have to move, now. It's almost midnight." He smiled. "But we're not taking the Elements of Harmony to face them. We've got something a little more covert."

Starshield and her three escorts jumped, as if noticing him for the first time.

"Who the hay are you?" She asked, but was waved away by Rainbow Dash.

"We'll explain on the way! Right now, we gotta rescue Spike!"

* * *

"They'rrrre on their wayyy."

Vex and Graygan peered into the lexicon, which displayed the rescue party running toward their hideout. All things considered, Sirmyurin defecting from the Grand Master was a move they couldn't have predicted, but what was there to do?

This, combined with how Grimm wasn't responding to any messages, was making the pair, well, not nervous, but unsettled all the same.

"Surrrely the drrragonling is not so valuable that they need him back _thisssss_ badly?"

Graygan flicked to a page in his lexicon that displayed all of Spike's information. Assistant to local librarian, baby dragon, barely enough firepower to light a fireplace.

"No." the hooded being concluded. "There's nothing substantially valuable about the dragonling. Mauraxus, even now in his weakened state, would be able to burn this forest to the ground. The dragonling wouldn't be able to manage a single tree."

Vex stared at the lexicon. Spike's picture stood there, smiling out at them. She growled and spread her wings. "Then why arrre they so innnteresssted in getting it back? And why is Sirrrmyurrrinnn helping them?"

"I don't know." Graygan snarled back. "But if it's a fight they want…"

The hooded being summoned his bag with a burst of blue sparks, and reached inside. Drawing out a helmet sculpted to look like a dragon's head, he carefully lowered it onto his shoulders, hood and all, and waited while his regular protective spells synchronized with the helm's. A dark purple glow spread from the eye holes, and sinister shine bled into the two horns at the back. This helm had been given to him by Grimm herself, handcrafted in the armory and infused with hundreds of mighty enchantments for supreme superiority in combat, subterfuge, and spellcrafting.

It also looked very intimidating, as it had been crafted to be, with a multi jointed mouth that opened and closed when he talked. It was, naturally, lined with razor teeth.

Magical force swirled and roiled at his gauntleted fingertips, distorting the very space and time around them. Graygan picked up a teacup, threw the contents into his newly acquired mouth, and set it down again.

"…it's fight they'll get."

Vex laughed, a keening, awful noise, and dived into her partner's shadow as he strode out the front door, leaving Spike inside his room.

They would have the first strike, at least.

* * *

"They should be just beyond, in this clearing." Sirmyurin whispered.

They were nearing their destination, a thick group of trees and brush, dense enough to conceal them all. It was so effective, that they had trouble finding each other. It was slow going, as every step had to be checked by the alicorn to ensure it was not booby trapped.

"I'm sorry," Starshield hissed disdainfully as they plodded along, disentangling her scarf from a low hanging tree branch. "Why are we following this pony's instructions?"

"Because _this pony_ knows more about our enemies than we do, so keep quiet." If the captain was annoyed by this rebuke, she didn't show it, but slunk back to her escort. On the way back, she tripped over something hidden in the underbrush.

"What in the name of-_oh Celestia of Equestria."_

Lying on the forest floor, crushed and disfigured, were the remains of a large hydra. By the looks of it, the once magnificent creature had once stood over fifty feet tall, but now it lay still and unmoving. The scales were dull and lusterless, and the paralyzing eyes gazed at nothing. The heads gave no indication of how the beast had died, but as the ponies' gaze traveled along the deathly still necks, they beheld the body.

Out of the swollen, brown abdomen jutted out spires of what looked like bone. The hydra's body was so stuck full of them that it looked like a pincushion. Yet none of the spikes seemed to have come from an external source, judging by how the skin had peeled outward rather than inward. It was horrific to behold.

"Reality warping." Sirmyurin concluded after a brief once-over. "They're close. Very close."

"As I was saying before I was interrupted," Sirmyurin continued quietly as they padded on, "We can either try to cloak ourselves with magic, or we can walk in and hope they don't just destroy us. Either way, I should stay back so it looks like you're less prepared than you really are. What'll it be?"

Jinx raised a hoof. "I vote we cloak ourselves. Your magic should be good enough to contend with theirs, right? I mean, you are like the Princesses, right?"

"Actually…"

As Sirmyurin, Captain Starshield, and Jinx dicussed what they would do next, Twilight noticed that Blizzard Gale was curled up on the forest floor, clutching her head. The lavender mare knelt down, and in the darkness, saw that her friend's right eye had turned yellow again. Her face was stretched into a grimace of discomfort.

"Blizzard! Your eye, it's-"

"I know, I know. Don't say anything." She said through clenched teeth. "Not that. I have an awful, _awful_ headache."

"A headache? It's just a headache, I think I can cure it."

Blizzard Gale pressed her nose to Twilight's foreleg.

"No! No magic. They…they'll sense it…oww, my head."

"Whe-when did it start?" Twilight was determined to get at least one helpful fact out of her friend, in hopes of helping her. It hurt her to see Blizzard in pain like this and be unable to lend a helping hoof.

The dark blue pegaasus clawed at her temple with her bracer, leaving her mane parted where the metal claws had raked.

"Don't…remember…" she panted, closing her mismatched eyes. "Can't…think straight. Everything hurts."

The grey unicorn had noticed the pair of mares in the dark. He strode over, pushing the shrubbery aside with a blue aura from his horn. "What's wrong with her?" he asked. Fear slipped into his voice. "Any coughing or sneezing?"

"No!" Twilight snapped. "She's just…got a headache, that's all."

"You sure?" the mage said warily.

Twilight nodded and looked the guard in the eye. "Positive."

The unicorn, whom Twilight just realized had never given his name or station, walked away, blue light gathering around his horn.

* * *

In the end, Blizzard Gale had opted to stay hidden until her headache went away. Jinx, Sirmyurin, and Starshield had decided on a plan. The alicorn would hide in the night sky, keeping his presence from Graygan and Vex. Jinx and the Elements of Harmony would cloak themselves, while Starshield, Spellbinder, and her guards would charge into the clearing and provide a distraction. Hopefully they wouldn't all be cut down before they managed to use the rune. Sirmyurin would hold onto it for now, and teleport it down to whichever group got into striking position first. From then, it would be a simple matter to set it off using any kind of magic.

At least, that was the plan.

_Everypony in position?_ Jinx transmitted telepathically, then added, _Think your answer and we'll hear it._

_Ready. _Sirmyurin thought, his unfamiliar magical resonating through all their skulls for a split second.

_Ready. _Spellbinder and Starshield thought simultaneously.

_Then let's do this. For Equestria!_

With that, Starshield's two guards lowered their spears and charged, hollering at the top of their lungs. Spellbinder and the grey mage ran just behind, ready to put up a barrier if there was any kind of retaliation. Starshield flew beside him, face unreadable behind her full face helmet, hooves outstretched and wings beating hard.

Just before they cleared the final line of trees, Spellbinder glanced to his left. A chink of moonlight had broken through the treeline, falling onto the group, and he was momentarily blinded by a flash of reflected moonlight off the captain's helmet. In that split second, his nose was filled with the scent of tea and biscuits, and high class mane and tail shampoo.

Then, as suddenly as it had happened, the moment was gone, and none of it mattered anymore.

* * *

The two factions finally meet, and Graygan's plan will be unveiled.

Leave a review, or...I guess there's nothing I can do about it.


	20. 19-SAniTea nOt InCUdeD

20- SAniTea nOt InCUdeD

Special mention to bananadevourer8801 (You_ do_? I love that smell too!), Drangonprincess (There will certainly be more, but whether it entails Veil, or Blizzard Gale, remains to be seen), and Grr (I suppose I don't have a penchant for story titles. When I finish this one, maybe you can help suggest a better name?) for reviewing.

* * *

The forest clearing had been so completely redecorated that it looked more like a spot in the Canterlot Gardens than any hole in the Everfree Forest. They might as well have charged into a reserved spot set up for a royal tea party. Before them was a superbly set table, with silken tablecloths and mountainous candles, set for fifteen. The grass underhoof had been meticulously trimmed into some kind of archaic, runic pattern, and strings of multicolored orbs hung from overhead branches. The almost-full moon drifted over the entire scene, lending an air of romance to it all.

And standing at the end of the long, ivory draped table, was Graygan himself, all in black, his face shrouded by his ever present hood. The being the lexicon had named Vex was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Spike, for that matter.

"Welcome, welcome!" Graygan said cheerfully. His voice was that of an old friend, soft, smooth, and above all, to be trusted. "So glad you made it. Have a seat, don't be shy. I'm sure you're all very thirsty after walking all this way."

Graygan waved a hand, and five chairs slid out from under the table. They positioned themselves so that a guest could take a seat without squeezing too much.

Starshield started forward, but Spellbinder caught her before she could take two steps.

"We're not doing anything until you release Spike." The mage announced, sounding a lot braver than he felt. "Hand him over, and we'll give you a light sentence."

Graygan laughed, his hood shaking slightly. "Oh, Spellbinder," he said, the pony flinching when he heard his name. "You're so serious. Sit down, sit down and we'll have a lovely chat."

Nopony moved.

Graygan sighed audibly and raised his hands. "Alright then. I'd hoped we could sit down and talk, but it looks like we'll do this the hard way."

"I like the hard way." Jinx whispered to Pinkie Pie. The party pony nodded and pulled a cream pie from behind her back, preparing to throw it with all her strength.

One of the guards was leveling his spear at the hooded figure's chest. "You can't take us all." He snorted.

His response was possible one of the most chilling things the guard had ever heard.

"Oh, _can't_ I?"

He raised his hands and clapped once, his gauntlets clashing together.

And suddenly, Spellbinder found himself seated next to Pinkie Pie and Jinx, with Rarity right across him. They all looked disoriented and confused, and sure enough, a wave of nausea washed over Spellbinder as well. When it passed, he stared up the table. Graygan was settling down into his seat and pouring himself a cup of dark liquid from a silver teapot. Even Sirmyurin had somehow been pulled down to this absurd excuse for a meeting.

"What say you to a nice, quiet discussion about your current situation?" they could have sworn the hooded being was smiling, even though his massive hood shadowed all his face. The teapot levitated around the table, filling each teacup to a precise amount.

"Here's what I say." Jinx said through clenched teeth, and fired a spell at Graygan. The red bolt of magic arced across the table, sizzling with anger and rage…and dissipated less than in inch from Graygan's cowled face.

Jinx's target leaned back in his chair and raised a finger.

And Graygan strode out from the shadows in the trees. One after another, the tea table was surrounded by hooded and cloaked figures, each one identical to the one seated at the end of the table, now drinking tea from his cup.

"Now," he said in a sickeningly sweet tone as Graygan copies circled the table, "We can talk without any interruptions."

* * *

"He's got them in the palm of his hand."

Nightfall was staring intently at Grimm's lexicon while its owner played her move. Faedran's third plane fiendwarrior and his knight were keeping her second plane king pinned down, but Grimm was certain she could salvage this situation. She moved a wizard in front of the king, only for a bishop to blast it to shreds the next turn.

"Sirmyurin could still use his power to save them," Faedran suggested without taking his glowing red eyes off the game. "After all, he still has them, for some reason."

"He keeps his power because I still believe he has a part to play." Grimm crooned. "Besides. Graygan has always been…easily overconfident. I am sure there's a thing he hasn't considered in his grand scheme. Not like me." While she spoke, a light red glow surrounded her finger, and a pulse of magic was let loose.

Faedran, being a spirit, didn't scare easily. A spirit from the depths of Drekan even less. But at that moment, Grimm's mask caught the light from the chess game just at the right angle, and Faedran almost shivered. It was said that humans were some of the most barbaric and brutal types of being that had ever existed, and in that moment, he could almost believe it. After all, Grimm still was a human on the soul level, even if her body had long since rejected it. Whatever that spell did, it wouldn't end well. For anyone.

"No, Officer Grimm." The superior Gigas agreed quietly as his permanent grin faded a bit. "Not like you."

* * *

Twilight stared down into her teacup and tried to drink down some of the tea inside. It was milky and sweet, but left a bitter aftertaste on her tongue.

She was seated third on the left from Graygan, with Blizzard Gale next to Starshield. Neither of them looked very comfortable. Blizzard was grasping her head in apparent agony, and the captain was as still as a statue.

But even as she watched, Captain Starshield stiffly reached a hoof out, and gave a Blizzard Gale a gentle stroke on the back, as if to say 'everything will be alright'.

"Miss Sparkle," Graygan's voice carried down the table, echoing through the trees. "I thought I made it perfectly clear that I did not want to deal with you again. It makes me very sad that you sought me out. And on purpose too." An edge of steel had crept into Graygan's voice near the end. As if confirming it, every copy around the table bent its knees slightly, but the threat was there as clear as day.

"Now. Tell me why I shouldn't incinerate you and leave your remains for the ravens."

"Don't you threaten her!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Her wings started flapping, but the Graygan behind her reached out and snagged her tail before she could properly take off.

"Please sit down, Miss Dash, or things will get unpleasant very quickly." Rainbow froze, not out of choice, but because the Graygan holding her tail had transferred its grip to her neck. It was cold, even colder than the coldest winter she had ever experienced. Colder than the Snowflake factory back in Cloudsdale.

"Thank you. And Sirmyurin," continued Graygan, redirecting his attention to the alicorn, who was staring daggers into his host. "I'm surprised at you. A little impressed, even."

"Let me go, and I'll impress you even more," Sirmyurin retorted. "What is this, an army of mana clones? I thought you'd have something more creative to show for two thousand years of service, or has Grimm destroyed your ingenuity as well?"

"I…don't think so. But do tell," Graygan levitated a plate of sandwiches slowly down the table. Nobody touched it, and it vanished into an explosion of blue sparks. "Why do you continually put yourself in harm's way for these…_ponies_, is it? Surely if your pay is insufficient, we could come to an agreement?"

The tea party host clicked his fingers. Visions of golden light piled down through the trees, solidifying into mounds of golden coins, gemstones, and jewelry. The treasures cascaded down the sides of the table, clattering and clinking as they struck each other.

"You think you can buy me off?!" Sirmyurin exclaimed. I'm not one of your colleagues anymore, Graygan."

Graygan flipped open a black book that he pulled out of his sleeve. "Hmm, funny. The lexicon says otherwise. But if you're willing to risk your job and livelihood for…" he gestured round the table. "A Court member reject, and her so called 'friends', I must say, I don't follow your logic."

"I don't follow yours either!"

Graygan paused mid breath and stared at Spellbinder, who had spoken. The mage had a look of such outrage and indignation on his face that even Celestia would have stopped to ask him what was the matter.

"You attacked Ponyville, kidnapped Twilight's assistant, and killed my friend, and you're acting like _we're_ the mad ones? What world do you live in?"

"A much better one than this," Graygan chirped, pouring himself another cup of tea.

Jinx began to rise out of her chair. "I've had enough of this nonsense. Either hand over Spike, or face the consequences!"

The hooded figure at the end of the table leaned on his elbow and smirked at her over the piles of gold, "You can't be serious. I have more training, magical skill, and outnumber you three to one. You can't possibly be thinking of engaging me in a fight."

Captain Starshield flexed her wings. "Then why did you start the plague?"

Graygan looked thoughtfully at the pegasus captain. "Plague?" he replied at last. "that was _y_-"

And then all the lights went out.

* * *

The tea party was plunged into instant darkness. The strings of lights, the candles, even the moon had gone completely black.

The magical bonds holding the ponies in their seats also vanished. Leaping out of their chairs and scattering valuables and crockery everywhere, the guardsponies rushed at the end of the table, where Graygan had been sitting. A cold hand made a grab at Spellbinder's tail, but he shot a bolt of stunning magic at it and the grip loosened.

"Get down, everypony!" Starshield cried before leaping up and joining in the fray. She jumped onto the tabletop and cast a shielding charm over the Elements of Harmony and Blizzard Gale. Sirmyurin was readying the siege breaker rune, but was jumped by two Graygan copies. He impaled one through the chest with his horn, and kicked the second one so hard it flew out of the clearing and out of sight.

The host of the tea party had seemingly been taken by surprise and was only readying a curse when the squad reached him.

There was a _crunch_ as one of Starshield's guards launched his spear at the seat, then a _snick_ as the second guard slashed at the same spot with his. Finally, Jinx shot another spell at the target, causing the surrounding area to burst into an inferno.

The fire roared, consuming that end of the table, but before the guards could perform a damage assessment, they were swarmed by the remaining copies.

Spellbinder's initial hex missed, but struck a branch which brought down one foe at the back. Jinx's hex was more accurate, and blasted a hole clean through the torso of a Graygan that had been about to take her head off with a thrown saucer. Starshield barked an order to her battlemage, whose horn glowed and began shooting needles of white light at any enemies who approached the circle of light or the table.

"Come on!" Jinx was hollering, her mane lit up with arcane might. "Where's all the courage you had when you attacked the town!?"

Her taunt was met with a chair being swung at her face, but one of the earth pony guards caught it on the butt of his spear and knocked the copy flat with his front hooves, allowing the other guard to smash it in the head with the teapot.

A Graygan staggered near the table, its left arm missing, and slumped forward onto the barrier being projected by Starshield. Her helmeted face turned to it, and the copy crumbled into ash.

However many copies rushed at the defenders, they were either repulsed, or cut down before they could get near. Finally, only three copies remained. The first drew a long, dark blade from within its coat and dashed at Jinx, but the battlemage bucked it in the legs, sending the Graygan tumbling, and ultimately skewered by his fellow guard. The second aimed its arm and blue sparks began to gather. The spell rippled through the clearing, but Jinx deflected it with her own sorcery and used a charm to cause all the silverware to fly into its face, ripping through the hood at the back. The third was brought down when Spellbinder picked up the blade left by the first copy and stabbed it in the knee, then the chest. The Graygan tried to rise, but fell down with a dead finality.

For a moment, all was still and quiet, save for the crackling of the flames. One by one, everypony approached the end of the table, where Graygan had, only a few minutes ago, been sneering at them.

He was still seated in his chair, but nowhere near as smugly as he had been before the lights had gone out. The guards' spears had found their marks, one of them stuck in the hooded one's chest, and the other having cut deeply into the hood. The black coat, once so fine and pristine, was now slowly crisping in the fire. There was no hint of any movement.

Applejack prodded a fallen copy with her hoof and snorted.

"So much fer skill an' numbers."

* * *

Author's Notes

Bet you weren't expecting that, were you?

Leave a review, if it so pleases you. It certainly pleases me.


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